Star Trek: Colony
by OldManSteve
Summary: Finally, Star Trek the way Gene Roddenberry always wanted it to be: a shonen fighting anime! Star Trek gets a DBZ style update in this period piece between TOS and TNG. On a research colony called New Busan, Romulans attack, forcing four teenagers to gain special powers to fight. Can they defend their colony or will they kill each other first?
1. Your New Home Part I

Federation space station Deep Space 9, late 24th Century

Dr. Bashir's office.

The aged Dr. Bashir, his mind still as sharp as ever, sat down at his desk this fateful morning. Just as he was about to open up a research report, an important notification appeared on his screen. "Ozla Graniv?" Dr. Bashir wondered out loud. "The famous reporter from Trill has a message for me?" He took a sip of his Klingon coffee and opened the message.

Uncomfortable facts was the subject header. _Code-name for Section 31 matters_, Dr. Bashir thought. He quickly reached around to the side of his smooth data desk pressed the button. The office door quickly shut and locked with a whine of its gears. He started reading through the email's list of documents. _She got access to Section 31's files!_ he realized. He skimmed through the list and picked one with the subject header The Golden Age.

He opened that file and skimmed through the table of contents, and stopped at a picture. He dropped his cup of coffee. The faux ceramic cup shattered, like his heart, into a hundred pieces on impact. He looked at the picture in shock and said "I can't believe this...Our golden age, built upon billions of deaths, by an unsanctioned death squad. Made of... teenagers?" He scrolled through the reports and pieced the heartbreaking story together.

2296, Yorktown station

Vice Admiral Akbor, commander of largest Federation space station in the neutral zone, walked with solemn purpose to his office on the command deck. The crew of the station zipped by him, on their way to and from their work stations in the clean two-toned hallway. The doors of the command deck quickly slid open with their patented, timeless **schwiss **sound of their hydraulic pistons. The crew stood up and briefly saluted him as he walked inside. He barely paid them any attention at first. Once at his door, he turned around and gave the short double bow of acknowledgment common on his homeworld. The crew returned to work and the commander entered his office, his mind focused on the interesting subspace call he was requested to make.

"Captain Ferguson! It's been a long time since our Mars days!" he said when Captain Ferguson answered the video call.

"It has, Vice Admiral," Captain Ferguson said with his usual deep dulcet voice. "It has."

"So what do you have for me?"

"Emergency request from Starfleet command. There was an incident on the edge of the Alpha Quadrant. Scout ship rescued some refugees from-" he stopped talking, looked down and picked up some papers, then skimmed through them to find what he wanted. "Uh...translator says they're called Cardassians." He looked up at the admiral again. "Command wants you to stick 'em somewhere."

Akbor's Andorian eyebrows curled back away from the eyes, a sign of annoyance. "Do I look like a housing manager, captain?"

"No sir, but Starfleet wants them far away so they (he looks down and reads) what is their name, Cardassia? Whatever, doesn't come looking for them and starting a fight."

"Ugh. Fine, we're the Federation. We help everyone. Klingons, Tamarinds, Romulans, and whatever the ones with the bolts in the necks are called."

"Frankensteinians, Admiral?"

"No, that's the ball chin guys. The ones with the big bolts in their necks, whatever they're called."

Captain Ferguson put the papers down. "So, Admiral, the _Hathaway _is on the way to your sector. Where do you want to drop them off?"

Akbor pressed a few buttons on his console. The screen changed from Ferguson's image to a map of the sector Yorktown was in. Just ten light-years from the Federation-Romulan neutral zone, it was displayed as a big Starfleet symbol, the curved triangle that also made up their comm-badges. Across the neutral zone, in green color, were worlds belonging to the Romulan star empire. On the Federation side, their worlds were colored blue. At the bottom corner of the map was the territory of the Klingon Empire. Their worlds were colored red. Akbor zoomed in on the worlds in that corner of space close to the border. The closest one was a fresh new colony called New Busan. "Send them to New Busan," he told Ferguson. "If they cause a ruckus, we'll redraw the map and let one of those nutbars deal with them."

"Clever deduction, Admiral. Should I mark that down as the main refugee policy of Yorktown Sector going forward?"

"Please do." He crossed his arms, a bad habit he learned from his human friends like Ferguson. "If they can survive New Busan, they're good enough for Andoria and Earth."

The door swung open. "Admiral," said the crewman, "We've got a sensitive issue with the Klingons!" His voice was nervous, the worry evident in his tone. "Some refugees-!"

"New Busan!" said both the admiral and the captain on the phone.

"Good answer, Admiral." The crewman said in a much calmer voice and he quickly turned around. The office door closed with the same satisfying **schwiss **sound so many Starfleet crews loved.

New Busan spaceport,

Stardate 2296.0303

2pm local time.

The colony mayor, a short man in his 50s with a slightly receding hairline and a slightly pouchy gut, stood at the entrance to the shuttle bay. Staring at him were 300 Klingons of various ages and genders on one side, and 75 Cardassians also of various ages on the other side. Standing in front of him were Starfleet captains from both delivery ships, holding data tablets and guidebooks. The colony mayor looked displeased and shocked, to be honest.

"I...uh...what's going on here?" asked the colony mayor.

"By the order of the Federation," explained the Andorian (blue-skinned aliens with head antennas) Starfleet captain, standing in front of the Klingons, "your colony will see to the safety and possible integration of these Klingon and Cardassian refugees into the Federation." He stern voice gave no hint of waver.

"But we don't have space for hundreds of refugees!" the colony mayor complained in a squeaky voice.

"You have an entire planet to work with, sir," the human captain standing in front of the Klingons calmly stated. "To help your colony, our ships will remain in orbit for a few days. And we'll even provide an extra industrial replicator."

"But I don't anything about Klingons or Card-ass-eeans! How can I help people I've never even heard of?"

"You should be glad, Mr. Mayor," said the Andorian Starfleet captain. He walked forward and shoved the tablets and books into the colony leader's arms. "My colleague and I brought you homework to catch up on."

The human captain also dumped her guidebooks into the hapless colony leader's arms. "I suggest you get started. Perhaps during your treadmill time as well."

"Oh come on!" The mayor complained. "This is BS! We're a research colony not a dumping ground! Why don't you boldy-"

"Two to beam up," the human captain flipped her communicator and radioed.

"-go and fuc-" the colony leader's tirade was interrupted by the transport energies enveloping the two Starfleet captains. He was now alone with all of the refugees. He looked around the room. "Uh…," he paused uncomfortably, "... welcome to your new home! I'll be right back!" He ran towards the arched exit. "Smithers! Help meeee!" he screamed for his assistant.

New Busan High School, main classroom,

One week later,

The Caitian (furry cat humanoid) teacher rapped her carbon fiber ruler against the side of the lectern. "Students, come to order. Class will begin now." Some of the students groaned as they climbed off the tables and sat properly in their seats. The classroom was mostly composed of humans, with a few Tellarites (furry humanoids), Betazeds (humanoids with spots), Deltans (pretty bald humans), and a short Bzzit Khaht (lizards that are bipeds) in the mix. She did a quick attendance check and noticed that a few class members had returned. "Mr. Oregon, I see you've returned."

The student, a growing teenage boy of 60 kilograms of toned muscle, dazzling smile, and long dark wavy hair framing his forehead, stood up. A bit of stubble appeared under his chin.

"It's good to be home," he explained. "Rigel IV was exciting, but I'm glad to be back in the countryside."

"What did your family do on Rigel IV?" asked the teacher.

"We were shopping for power transmission parts and we won 50,000 credits at a casino."

"Wow!" some of the students said.

Isaiah smirked softly. "We're really good at Vulcan Poker."

The Tellarites laughed heartily, being that they know the Vulcans well as founding Federation members and also know about the Orions (weird humanoids) who inhabit the Rigel area.

The teacher rapped the ruler again. "Thank you for sharing," she said. "Ms. Quan, how was your trip?"

Isaiah sat down and a human teenager with very thin eyebrows stood up. "Mrs. Talllk, I was busy at Yorktown station. I got lots of art supplies for the family business," she said with a cheery voice that the male students adored but the girls did not. "Since there's been peace, the Alpha Quadrant is really interested in arts and crafts these days. My parents want to find alien art so if you see any weird stuff, give me a call."

"Hey I want those credits too!" said Grk the Bzzit Khaht, his eyes spinning as he talks.

"I'll cut you in 20-80!"

"40-60!"

The teacher frowned. "This is not a business meeting! You can discuss this after class!" she ordered.

The rest of the school days followed the pattern the other days did this week, with class paused after lunch. The students carried materials on anti-grav carts from the replicators to the newly started Cardassian Quarter on the edge of town. It was a busy time as the colonists focused their efforts on helping their new neighbors.

On the way home from the Cardassian Quarter, Genji chatted with Isaiah and Todd, another human student. They walked by some of the storage containers stacked by the southern edge of the main colony.

"They don't talk very much," said Isaiah.

"Maybe they are nervous. They don't know what to say," Genji replied.

"They seem guarded. Like they think they're still in danger," said Todd.

Isaiah waved his hands around. "But this colony's far away from everything. What could they be afraid of? Nothing bad ever happens here!" He was looking up when he said that. Some light trails appeared in the evening sky. He thought they were meteors at first. Then he saw their color. The red color was ship to ship phaser fire. The green color was ship to ship disrupter fire. Todd looked up and grabbed Genji's arm and pointed up. She saw the strange lights and knew what was happening. A large red and orange light came from the direction of what the green colored lights were hitting.

**WRRREOOOOUUUUU**! The alert siren screamed. Then they saw the telltale spinning hazy white lights on top of the large storage container they were standing next to. Transporter signal. As the light solidified, they ran for cover behind a nearby container. Jumping off the container was what they feared the most. Romulans, in their distinct black armor and scary looking disrupter pistols.

"Why now?" whispered Isaiah. "They've been quiet for years."

"They wanna go loud," said Genji. One of the Romulan soldiers started to turn in their direction, and they ducked, hiding in the bushes behind the storage containers. The soldier turned around then moved quickly with his comrades. He fired a shot and destroyed the annoying alert siren. The **spreww**! of weapons fire and screams of battle entered the ears of the young humans.

A buzzing sound came from Isaiah's pocket. He reached in and took out his communicator. "Mom?" he answered.

"Honey! Where are you?!" she yelled.

"I'm with Genji and Todd! We spotted Romulans!" he reported.

"Get home this instant!" she ordered.

"But mom! I wanna fight!"

"No! Get home and fight from here!"

"Awww, mom!" he hung up the communicator.

"How are we supposed to get to our homes in this mess?" asked Todd.

Genji poked her head up and looked around. "They're not here anymore," she whispered. "Let's move between the containers until we get to the replicators, then run around the back end around the houses." Isaiah and Todd quickly agreed.

They darted between the containers and dove into the native scrub bushes around the replicators. At the rear of the last replicator building, they saw Romulans standing guard by their entrances. But to get past them, they needed a distraction and most of the battle was a ways away.

Genji looked around. The only thing around them were rocks and twigs. They crouched on the ground. Todd picked up a stone.

"What?" whispered Isaiah. "Are you going to stone them to death?"

"No. I've seen this work in war films," Todd explained. He tossed the stone upwards. It made a loud **thuck**! sound on the right corner of the tall flat roof of the replicator building. The soldiers looked up and walked away from the entrance. The teenagers ran from their hiding spot, their distraction working perfectly. They left the captured replicator buildings behind and towards domed houses that they lived in.

They took a breath as they stopped in an alleyway between houses. Some Romulan bodies lined the street in front of them. Explosions in the distance caught their attention.

"My house… is five more houses to the left," said Isaiah. He took a deep breath as he leaned on his knees.

Todd leaned against the wall. "OK...ok…" he started to move towards the end of the alleyway.

"Stop!" shouted Genji. Todd stopped and peeked around the wall. Romulans started aiming down the street and he ducked into the alley.

"Shoot, you're right," said Todd. "We've got company."

Isaiah walked to the edge of the other end of the alleyway. He saw armed Romulans firing at someone to their right as they ran towards his position. "We've got company on our ass too."

"We gotta make a run for it!" said Genji. She got into a sprinting position. "On three. One, two, three!"

Just as they started running, numerous phaser blasts and disrupter bolts flew past the street.

They immediately turned left and followed the edges of the domed houses. Phaser fire flew past them. Disrupter bolts slammed into the ground beside them or smashed into the walls of houses they ran past. At the end of the street, they saw a squad of colony guards in a house. They waved them by as a guard aimed a photonic bazooka downrange. One of the nearby doors slid open. A familiar hand waved from the cover of the door. It was Isaiah's mother, Nana. Genji and Isaiah dove into the house and the door slid closed.

"Son! I'm glad you're safe!" shouted Nana. She pressed two buttons and the house's shields turned back on.

"Where's Todd?!" Genji asked.

"He didn't make it," Nana replied. Genji turned to look at her and saw a tall woman with curly blond hair and a modelesque face.

"We gotta get him!" said Isaiah as he stood up. The disrupter bolts made a distracting PING! sound when they bounced off the shield. "Lower the shield!"

"No, son!" said a male voice in the other room. Isaiah and Genji turned around and looked down across the room. The house had no hallway but it did have four separated rooms. The voice came from the first room to the kitchen, their lab.

"Mr. Oregon?" asked Genji.

"Come in here, now!" he ordered. They ran inside and saw a tall man standing by a computer console.

The lab had a large sarcophagus shaped bed in the corner, with a few boxes running tubes and cables into it. Genji immediately noticed the five small crystals on the edge of the bed and the words on the boxes like 'matter reintegrator' 'protomatter replicator'.

"I need you to get inside," said Mr. Oregon.

"Dad, why?" asked Isaiah. "Is it even ready?"

"We're out of options. They've blown the Farragut up and chased off the Hathaway. You're our only hope!"

"How is he getting into bed going to save us?!" loudly asked Genji.

Mr. Oregon looked at her. "We've been working on a secret project. The Romulans must've gotten wind of it." He was going to say more when the screams of colony guards echoed in their ears. "He is going to become our weapon!"

"But dad! I don't even know what to do! I barely understand this stuff!"

Mr. Oregon held both of his son's arms. "I know I said I was going to go over this stuff with you! But you're going to have to trust me!" He let go and pressed a bunch of buttons on his tablet and the insides of the sarcophagus began to glow. "Computer, initiate emergency activation!"

"Acknowledged," the house computer replied. He wiped the sweat from his brow. "It's up to you to save us all! You will become the spear of the Federation!"

"Is this even safe?! How can I-"

"Shields at five percent and failing," the house computer said.

Isaiah ran to the sarcophagus. "Hail Mary time, then!" He took off his shirt and climbed inside.

He passed a phaser rifle to Genji. "Help us protect Isaiah. We just need five minutes!"

Genji took the rifle from the tall man. "You got it, Mr. Oregon." She took position next to the door as the Oregon family went to work on their project, the last and best hope for their colony.


	2. Your New Home Part II

Oregon household,

the battle continues...

Genji aimed her phaser rifle at the door, waiting for the moment the first Romulan shock troops pour in. Screams from the fallen echoed around the room, followed by explosions and collapsing houses. Nana and Gabriel Oregon put thoughts of the battle out of their head as they entered the necessary instructions into the program.

"Begin first stage!" ordered Gabriel. "Nanoprobe insertion!"

"Compliance," said the computer.

"Hang in there, son. This part will hurt."

Three tubes from the inside of the sarcophagus jammed into sides of Isaiah's body. He screamed in pain as millions of microscopic machines flooded his body.

"Shields at one percent," said the computer.

Gabriel cringed. "There's no time for adjustment! Begin second stage! Conduit and guidance system formation!"

Nana Oregon engaged the program. "Please don't die, Isaiah!"

Isaiah stopped screaming. "I promise mo- AAAGGGHH! I'M GONNA DIE!" and went back to screaming as the probes left his bloodstream and began to form energy channeling conduits, sensors, and other electronic systems throughout his body.

**brrooo! **The shields protecting the house went down.

"Damn it! We need more time!" Gabriel complained.

There was a weird pause. Then, one of the Romulans shouted: "I can't get the door open!"

"Try kicking it!" shouted another Romulan.

**whump! **"AAGH my foot!"

"Try again! I saw it give a little!" the first Romulan ordered.

**whump! **"Aagh, my other foot!" Genji heard that Romulan fall down.

"Do we have any explosives left?" shouted the second Romulan.

"Not with us, sir," a female Romulan replied.

"Go through the window!" the second Romulan said. Genji heard the window break and she spun off the wall and aimed at the window closest to the door. A Romulan soldier pulled herself into the windowsill. As soon as Genji saw her head, she fired, killing her.

"Cejun!" screamed the Romulan soldier with the broken feet.

"Second stage complete," the computer reported as Isaiah's screams died down.

"Excellent! Begin third stage! Link nodules formation and discharge crystal attachment!" Gabriel ordered the computer.

"Is the pain going to stop now?" asked Isaiah in an exhausted tone.

"My baby, I'm so sorry!" said Nana.

"No," Gabriel replied. Isaiah screamed again as the sarcophagus beamed four small discharge crystals into the palms of his hands and soles of his feet. After that, nanoprobes made a diamond-shaped opening in the middle of his forehead, his back, one on his chest, and one on each of the inner thighs. Isaiah stopped screaming.

Disrupter blasts began pounding away at the door. A green light began to seep through the door. "We're almost out of time!" shouted Genji.

"My part is done!" said Nana as she ran from her computer console to the side of the door and picked up a phaser rifle.

"Here comes the hardest part!" said Gabriel. The pod opened up and Isaiah began to float out of the sarcophagus. "Dilithium crystal insertion!" Gabriel picked up a crystal.

"The crystals must be inserted slowly," the computer advised.

"Too late for that!" Gabriel jammed the crystal into the slot in Isaiah's right thigh. It almost broke, which would have caused a continent breaking explosion. Gabriel quickly but carefully jammed another of the red crystals into the next open slot. He picked up the next one.

The door disappeared in a cloud of green haze. "We need them alive! Orders from the Tal Shiar!" said the Romulan leader in a stern voice.

"You dirty spies won't take us alive!" Nana shouted back as Gabriel continued to attach crystals. He spun the floating teenager around and put one more into the slot on his back. Then he spun him right side up and picked up the last crystal.

"Yes, we will! Squad, draw stun pistols!" shouted the leader.

"Well, poo," Genji replied.

"Colonists, attack!" a human shouted from the left side followed by the screams of human men.

"Yes!" cheered Genji.

**ptssptssh!** "Arrgh!" the men scream as they were immediately felled by Romulan counterfire.

"Poo again!" Genji replied. She raised her rifle and fired through the opening. A Romulan soldier slid out of view.

"One more left!" said Gabriel as he loaded in the last crystal. He pushed a button and Isaiah returned to the sarcophagus.

"Final phase; heat stabilization with protomatter," said the computer.

"Rapid insertion!" Gabriel replied. He drew a phaser from his pocket. "The rest is up to you, son." He knelt down by the machine.

"ARGGHGH!" Isaiah screamed again as protomatter flooded into his body and coated the energy conduits.

"Countdown to activation begun," said the computer.

Romulan stun beams flew by Gabriel's head. The family fired back, leaving them unaware of the danger behind them. A Romulan soldier snuck around the back, lifted the curtain a touch and tossed in a stun grenade. **BOOM! **They fell to their knees and dropped their weapons. The Romulans rushed inside, with one hopping slowly, one foot hanging low. They surrounded the family and aimed their pistols. The leader looked at the sarcophagus. As soon as he did, the screaming stopped. "What did you do to-?"

"Activation sequence complete," said the computer. The sarcophagus opened up. The Romulans turned their attention from the humans on their hands and knees and looked up at Isaiah as he sat up. Isaiah looked at his hands and saw the centimeter-wide green discharge crystals embedded in his hands. He then looked at the red crystal in the middle of his chest.

"Those are dilithium crystals," the Romulan leader muttered. "Don't tell me you-"

"Son!" shouted Gabriel. "Make a shield!"

Isaiah looked to the right and saw his family and friend surrounded by Romulan soldiers. He aimed his right hand at them and saw them raise their weapons at him. "Uh, shield!" They fired their stun bolts at him. **bsssbsss!** The barrage of bolts stopped in their tracks by a barely visible barrier that curved in front of the teen.

"Blast them!" Gabriel ordered.

"Ok!" He pushed his palm forwards. **shwwss!~ **The shield flew away from his palm and shoved the Romulans in the doorway out of the house as if they were hit by a truck. The other Romulans dove out of the way.

"BWWAAH!" their screams faded in a Doppler effect as they flew down the street.

"Not like that! Like your old cartoons!" Gabriel shouted. A bolt from an astute Romulan soldier silenced him.

"Dad!" Isaiah said in fear. He aimed his hands at the confused Romulans as they stood up or aimed at him. _Energy blast!_ A stream of energy from the dilithium crystals' matter-antimatter interaction went down the conduits and into his discharge crystals. The discharge crystals converted them into semisolid energy and fired it. The Romulan that shot his dad immediately developed a case of hole-in-heart-itis. **VBssVBssVBss! **The other Romulans fell to his energy blasts as well.

Gabriel struggled to stand up. Isaiah ran over to him and helped him up. He looked at his mom. She was not moving.

"Don't worry about them. We...must...finish...this fight," Gabriel barely said.

"I know that, but mom and Genji-"

"They'll recover! We have to chase-" he stopped to cough some dust and then stood up straight. "-chase them off!" he finished the sentence

"Where are they?" asked Isaiah.

"Outside. Let's go."

They walked outside. Isaiah's newly enhanced eyes easily spotted the Romulans hiding all around the houses and building on their street and looking at him. "What should I do?"

Gabriel sat down on the front step. "You shoot them."

"Oh yeah, that's right."

"Make a shield first. Your internals will modulate your blasts so you can fire through them."

"Got it. Kicking ass." **VBss.** He made a shield that covered the space around him and his father, then fired two blasts that took out two Romulans hiding nearby.

One Romulan whipped out a communicator. "Unstoppable enemy! Request emergency beam out!" he shouted. Transport beams filled the area as living Romulans transported to their ship. This made Isaiah and Gabriel look up. A white spaceship with a bird-shaped mural on its underside hovered above.

"They're heading there," said Isaiah.

"Yes. You need to destroy that ship," replied Gabriel. He bent his right leg slightly and rested his left arm on the knee.

"How? I can't fly!"

"Isaiah's Computer, creator override. Initiate flight mode."

"Flight mode, engaged," said the computer inside Isaiah, which he could now hear in his head.

"Huh?"  
"Now son, make energy flow out of your feet! Just like your cartoons!"

"Uah… OK!" He made a pushing motion. He bent his knees like he was doing a squat. "Fly!" He said angrily. Nothing happened. "I think I-!" **WhoosH! **He took off into the sky like an arrow fired from the ground. He legs held steady but his arms flailed about.

"WHAOOO!" His mouth was wide open as air flew past his lips and made the characteristic wind-tunnel face. {Flight shield!} An aerodynamic shield formed around his body, making it easier for him to fly. He heard a **whump,** and he broke the sound barrier. The Romulan Bird-of-Prey turned its curved front hull upwards. It started rising in the sky.

{Approaching air limit,} said the computer.

"Then I have to fire now!" Isaiah replied. He aimed both palms at the ship. "Maximum power!"

**VACUUMMM! **A beam of antimatter energy rushed from his crystals and out his hands. It hit the Romulan ship's shields and punched them. The beam then flew past the hull and into space. The force of the shot knocked Isaiah off course and he tumbled towards the ground. "Damn. I...missed!" He looked up again and noticed a few large white ships appear. It was the Federation! He saw the Bird-of-Prey cloak and vanish from his sight and sensors as it left the atmosphere. _Dad, we did it! We-_ His thoughts were interrupted by a warning from his computer in his eyes. Warning, imminent impact, it said.

"What? Oh crap!" He spun around and saw he was about to crash. He aimed his fist and feet down and fired a strong burst of energy to slow down. He did that part well but didn't aim properly and he flew back towards the houses. _Oh crap!_

**Thrmubp! **He smashed through the roof of a domed house, through a bedroom floor and finally stopped after smashing through a coffee table. "Unnggh!" he groaned.

_You did it, son! You've become the spear of the Federation_. Gabriel thought. He stood up and went back inside to tend to his wife and Genji. He coughed a bit and covered his mouth.

A while later, Isaiah and Genji walked around the shattered colony. Federation and Romulan bodies, different in life but equal in death, littered the battlefield. They noticed that the bulk of the Federation dead wore red shirts. An older woman wearing a thick tattered blue skirt ran towards them. They stopped.

"Did you see Todd? I haven't seen him anywhere," she asked them in a weak voice.

"I-" Isaiah was about to say something, but his will left him and he looked away from her.

"He didn't make it, ma'am. He gave his life so we could escape," Genji replied.

"My, baby…" the woman fell to her knees and Genji knelt down to comfort her tears.

Isaiah looked down and thought _If only we were ready. If only they had attacked later, I would've been ready. If only-_

"Hey, it's Isaiah! The hero!" a Tellarite shouted.

"Yeah! I saw him blast the Romulans!" shouted a Deltan kid.

"He saved us all!" said Grk the Bzzit Khaht.

Men and women grabbed Isaiah and hoisted him up. He smiled. "I'm a hero?" he asked himself. "I'm a hero!" He pumped his fist with pride.

A Cardassian teenage boy put his hands in his pockets and walked away from the cheering crowd. The smile faded from his lips as he walked away.

New Busan town hall,

Five days later.

With the cleanup almost complete and the funerals finished, it was time to commend the heroes. An awards ceremony was ordered by the mayor, who had a bandage on his forehead after a chunk of roof mysteriously hit him at the end of the battle. Isaiah whistled quietly when the mayor mentioned that. Standing on the platform were the captain of the Hathaway, Isaiah, Genji, and a few Starfleet officers. The captain of the officer put a medal, the United Federation of Planets Medal of honor, on their chests. The crowd applauded. Isaiah lifted his medal and looked at it. It had two blue and one white band down the length of the sash. A golden bar attached the sash to the metal. It was flat and heavy. It was a disc, with 40 white stars along the edges, framed by blue lines that ran the entire disc. He realized that it referred to the 40 member races of the Federation. He looked at the center as the people applauded. The disc had four words, each a different language from the worlds of the four founders. Each word meant "bravery". He smiled and looked at the crowd.

_So, I'm their hero?_ he thought with pride. _This is what being a hero feels like!_ He held his fist in triumph and the crowd cheered louder.

"Stop showing off, hero," whispered the Hathaway's captain. Isaiah lowered his fist.

Theta Pictoris system, Catulla

Federation Starbase 334

Pavel Chekov walked next to the purple flowers of Catulla that had been planted in the space station's garden. Thanks to Federation medical science, his 55 years of age tuned down to make him look between 35 and 40. An older Catullan woman walked next to him. She looked mostly human with three rows of hair curling upwards from both sides of her head. Her tan skin showed a few stereotypical wrinkles around the forehead like almost all Catullans. He was about to tell her something when his communicator buzzed. He picked it up and the woman continued her walk.

"Security chief Chekov," said a young male's voice on the line. "The Romulan attack on New Busan was repelled and the colony remains intact."

"Interesting," said Chekov. "Who came to our colony's aid?"

"I'm switching to secure line 2." A clicking sound soon followed. "Ready?"

"Go ahead."

"Project Ankaris."

Chekov's eyes widened. The woman he was walking with was looking at him and saw his surprise.

"The Oregon family was successful…" he muttered. He turned around. "Continue to monitor their progress, Commander Pense. Chekov out." He closed the communicator and looked at the woman. He smiled. She returned his smile as he put the communicator back into his pocket.


	3. The Box Part I

Opening sequence; TNG song for ten seconds with visuals of the colony planet. Then fast zoom to the colony and to Isaiah. Song changes to a remix of "Rock the Dragon" with 'star trek: colony" replacing half the lyrics. Rapid scenes of Isaiah fighting Romulans. Then a black background with the Federation symbol in the middle. A kssst! sound follows for a second. A brief half-transparent image of a Cardassian man appears above and to the right of the symbol. Cut to show name, and Isaiah flying forwards over the colony. Goes to commercial.

Colony high school classroom,

one week after the battle.

The students, the ones that survived, were standing around Isaiah's desk, listening to him embellish stories about the fight. Just as he was talking about how he batted away five Romulan bird-of-prey plasma torpedoes, the teacher came in. She looked a little different.

"Good morning class. Despite the many losses we survived, we shall continue on in their name," Ms. Talllk said.

"Looks like you lost a bit more than others," said Earl, an annoying teenage boy with bright pink hair.

"Not as much as others," she replied and pulled back her left hair, which was composed of artificial curls. Her left ear was gone.

"Teacher! I lost my right hand!" said a girl who waved upher stump.

"I lost an eye!" said one of the Betazeds girls, now wearing an eyepatch with a funny human pirate symbol on it.

"I lost my lovestick and fun balls!" said the oldest teenage human. Many in the class except for Grk laughed at him.

"Well, that's a shame-"

"That's what she said!" Earl blurted out.

Ms. Talllk glared at him. "That's enough with the Old Earth jokes, Earl! They weren't funny in the 19th century either!"

"You should know, you're probably that old, hag…" he muttered under his breath.

"And as for you, Tre'quan, did you do your homework?"

"Uh…"

Ms. Talllk pointed the ruler at him. "Because if it's not on my desk by the end of the day, I'm going to talk to Nurse Hall about your reconstruction surgery! Instead, you're going to get the below average model!"

The girls and Grk laughed so hard the desks shook. The boys groaned. "Oh crap!" shouted Tre'Quan. He looked inside his paper notebook and didn't find it. He took out his digital tablet and realized it was stuck on a 'hottest ladies of the federation' slideshow. He quickly spun through pages in a foolish attempt to find his homework. One of the Tellarites snorted loudly and pointed.

"You're on the wrong file, mate!" the Tellarite said.

Tre'quan finally closed the slideshow and looked at the file master list. Of course, he kind of forgot what it was. "Uh… Romulans! They blew up my homework!" Tre'quan replied.

"According to the Federation guidebook, Article 300 subsection J, that only buys you one extra day!"

"Does that regulation really exist?" asked Genji. She sat in front of the class with one of the Deltan girls.

"I made it up," whispered Ms. Talllk, "but he won't know that." She lowered her hand and looked at Tre'quan as he struggled to find it, whatever it was, in his backpack. "Do you even remember what was the homework assignment?"

"Uh... yes, no, maybe?" Tre'quan answered.

"Three words. Below. Average. Model." Ms. Talllk was clearly taking advantage of the fact that there is no HIPAA law in the 23rd century.

"Noooo!" Tre'quan grabbed his crotch and screamed at the ceiling dramatically. Everyone laughed loudly.

"You're gonna be Isaiah sized!" said one of the Tellarite boys.

"Hey! I heard that!" Isaiah pointed angrily at him. "I am not below-average sized!"

"That's what he said!" Earl retorted. The Betazeds girls laughed so hard they fell out of their seats. And kept laughing while on the floor.

"That's it!" Isaiah stood up.

"What're gonna do, hooman?" joked the Tellarite. "Whip out yo 'captain's log'?"

Now the Deltans and Earl laughed so hard they fell out of their seats.

His eyes grew large with righteous fury. Isaiah aimed his palm at the Tellarite. "I'm gonna fry-"

Ms. Talllk interrupted Isaiah by banging her broken ruler on the desk. "Alright! That's enough! We've reached our quota of dick jokes and death threats for the semester! Now, everyone calm down and sit down!" Isaiah helped one of the Betazoids back into her seat and then sat down himself. "We are going to have another important change!" She waved and the door slid open. In walked six Cardassian teenagers. Three were girls and three were boys. One of the boys walked in on crutches and two of the girls had bandaged arms and faces. "The Cardassians are joining our school,"

The Cardassians made a line in the front row as the students silenced themselves, though Isaiah was a bit laid back, crossing his arms behind his head. "Make some introductions and take your seats." Their gray skin and spoon indented foreheads made a big impression on the students.

The introductions and first lessons went well, but the math lesson ended poorly when one of the Cardassian boys argued with the teacher.

"Why are you still using base-10 math?!" asked the student. "It is inferior!"

"Because most Alpha quadrant races have 5 fingers, Enabran. It makes rapid counting easier."

"But base-12 is so much more efficient!"

"Are you a Cardassian or a Vulcan?" loudly asked Earl. Enabran looked at him.

"That's Earl. Just ignore him," said Ms. Talllk in a tired tone of voice.

"Understood, teacher."

"Hey, Enabean!" One on the Tellarite boys said. "If I push the button on your forehead, do you go to sleep like the Vulcan neck pinch?"

"What is a Vulcan neck pinch?" asked Enabran.

The bell rang, thankfully ending the period before Ms. Talllk could give out homework. After talking with the principal about the school rules, expectations, and future options, the Cardassian teens left campus. On the way home, they saw Isaiah playing with some elementary school kids. He blew up a boulder and chunks of stone landed by their feet. Then the kids started throwing pebbles in the air. He easily shot them out of the sky. The Cardassians whispered praises amongst themselves.

But Enabran was not happy. He carefully glared at Isaiah with resentment in his heart. Isaiah was another example of people who got power and didn't deserve it. He thought of the irritating Federation founder races, their great power and how weak the Cardassians were against them. Everyone stopped to watch Isaiah showboating in the air. He floated backward with his arms behind his back as if he were sleeping while flying. Predictably, he crashed into a native Earth tree and got stuck in the branches. The others laughed while Enabran stomped off, more annoyed than ever.

At home, his little brother had just finished attaching a photo of Bajor to their wall.

"Why'd you put that up there?" asked Enabran.

"It reminds me of home," he replied. He spun around the living room, pointing out the amount of space and cool furniture. "But this human style house is nicer."

Enabran put his hand on the sofa. The padding became softer with his thoughts. "I never thought anyone would ever build a smart sofa," he said to his brother. "Speaking of which, did you do a bug sweep, Nort?"

"Yes, brother…" Nort whined. He tugged on the strings of his hoodie. "I still don't think the Obsidian Order made it all the way out here. We're almost a whole quadrant away."

Enabran sat down on the sofa. He thought about making the seat harder and the seat stiffened a little. "How was school today?"

"There's a lot of us, so the school might get one of the adults to teach us Federation culture once a week. Before we came here, there were only 15 kids, but now there's 30. We take shifts: one-hour class, one-hour playtime. Some of the Federation kids say the Klingons might join us in a few weeks."

"Really? Isn't that interesting news?"

"There aren't many kids in their group, though."

"I saw there are more Klingon teenagers so-" Enabran's explanation was interrupted by a weird 'pull' they both felt. It was as if something was calling them, and the feeling wasn't coming from their communicators or holophones. They got up.

"It came from there," Nort replied as he pointed upstairs.

"Your bedroom? What did you find in there?" Enabran asked.

"Should we wait for mom to get home?"

"No… we should investigate first then report it if it is dangerous." They both got up and walked upstairs to Nort's bedroom.

(soundtrack suggestion: Berserk- Behelit)

Enabran pointed to the wall and Nort took cover by the door while he opened it. A bright glowing light was coming from an ornate box sitting on his bed. It pulsed red every second.

"It's the Bajoran artifact box we bought," said Enabran. "But why is it doing that?"

"Do you think it's radioactive?" asked Nort.

He tapped his Federation communicator. "I think this would make a sound if we were in danger."

{Power, power!}… a voice in his head loudly said. Enabran shook his head. "I think it's talking to me."

"Me, too, but it's very faint."

{Power, power… you want the power to protect your people, don't you?} the voice said again in their heads.

"Yes," said Enabran as he began to feel the power flowing in the box. He stepped inside, reached out his hand and touched the middle opening, where the bright pulsing light was coming from.

{Our wish is granted_.}_

"Wait, what do you mean, our?" asked Enabran.

{Too late! No take-backs!} A wave of red energy flowed out of the box, onto his arms, then his entire body. The energy danced upwards and downwards like a flame. His eyes glowed red. The box stopped glowing, shrank to the size of a pebble, and attached itself to his belt.

"Brother?" Nort asked in fear.

Standing before Nort was something that was no longer his brother, or even a person. This superbeing turned Enabran's head, looked at Nort, and smiled like a serial killer after his third Craiglist kill. Nort backed up in fear. Before he could think about running, a loud **pop!** sound filled the air in the room. Enabran, and whatever evil thing controlling him, was gone.


	4. The Box Part II

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="223ca84929b1320230f9dcd4b37f5308"Opening sequence: TNG song for ten seconds with visuals of the colony planet. Then fast zoom to the colony and to Isaiah. Song changes to a remix of "Rock the Dragon" with 'star trek: colony" replacing half the lyrics. Rapid scenes of Isaiah fighting Enabran. A span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"kssst/span! sound follows for a second. A brief half-transparent image of 5 human shadows of fire appears above and to the left of the symbol. Cut to show name, and Isaiah flying forwards over the colony, camera following in front and above him, pointing slightly down. Go to commercial./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222; text-align: center;" data-p-id="874d4ee333536d1b04df298a52ed3366"A kilometer from school, br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /at the same time./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="327502ef42b0ffe4ff1d23d017f7c6a9"Marking the end of the southeastern corner of the colony, not far from the Cardassian Quarter, was a large plateau that extended for many kilometers. Isaiah, thanks to prodding from his parents and the mayor, went there for training and practice. Some of his high school friends went out there to watch him practice. It's not like they had anything better to do like rebuilding the colony, water the gardens, doing their homework, etc.../p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="33b0ff0b281512f5debd230ca428e744""I think I've figured out how to throw a fireball!" Isaiah announced after looking through his computer's submenus. "Watch this!" He held his palm up and focused. The discharge crystals made a magnetic bubble and filled the interior with plasma. Suddenly, Enabran appeared in front of him. "Oh jeeze!" Isaiah overreacted and tossed the plasma ball upwards as he spun away. It quickly flew to the top of the cliff. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"BAA-GOOOM!/span A bright light filled the sky in that corner of the plateau./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ac6102315ce72d984fbb3bcb54eca119""Damnit kid! Don't do that shi-hey wait a minute!" Isaiah pointed at him when he noticed something was odd about Enabran. "What's with that red glow? And how'd you get here so fast?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9cdeeab7ed0dede21818105e5297195f"Enabran smiled evilly again. Genji was the first to notice it. "That's not Enabran! Something's controlling him!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bd3bc49ec936bd287c477953a6f8401e"Isaiah turned around. "How do you know that?! We just met him!" he stated./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c6ba4c0bcee0cfa2fa5ed0057c5afe94""Look at his smile! He never smiled in class!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="840f60deb159ae6d8fc4b8de6fa12328""Powered human," said five distinct voices coming from Enabran's mouth, "we desire your death..."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5b9c401b2cc5140e300b1fe5cd7ffb73"Isaiah took a step back. "But I don't-OOG!" a right cross knocked Isaiah off his feet. He smacked the ground more than a few meters away./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4501b80a631dfdad96d087ba26aacf95""You are strong, but we are stronger. Your death will be a warm-up. HAHAHAAAAAH!" the laughter of the five voices inside him became a cackle and the other students covered their ears. Nearby, a glass window broke./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="eeb1596e9d3fcabc2056552f14f0fd81"Isaiah got to his feet and pointed his thumb at himself. "You wish, dumbass. I'm powered by five dilithium crystals!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8c3bb0e761a1d41bcd754af4fdfeb4b0""We are five gods, whelp!" Enabran bent his arms at the waist and flexed. The aura of red energy grew taller from his shoulders. It shoved the air away, making a big breeze blow dust at everyone nearby. "Feel our combined power, monster of science!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b72e14490e3ea09271b8a05a2b90b23f"Teenagers ran screaming, except for Genji, a brave young lady at heart. She shouted "Isaiah! Take the fight outside the city!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b11d1111cf719951cf871909ec52b410""But I want-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c7b6be227a567d7d6653fc224be038ba""Just do it! A fight here would kill us all!" Then she took off running for cover./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e6c7dcacb2319491eee8932a979ff512""Fine! Computer, flight mode!" Isaiah began hovering as his antigrav system kicked in. He looked at the angry thing that was Enabran's body. "Catch me if you can!" And he took off, heading through the nearly featureless wastelands south of the colony. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d15e5c2c68744aee12e2ee17de461dde"Enabran smirked. Inside his head, five spirits touched an orb with a hand, in the center of an empty room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="de1512cbca76d6b15f36626ad7346760"{The chase is on, brothers!} A bald-headed spirit said inside Enabran's head, with a deep tone./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d88c74e403f14e5f3f8c82f350d3a475"{We shouldn't waste time here}, said the shortest spirit. {We should return to Bajor and free our brethren.}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ea4706e87d145ea76e43e13db57ed18c"The tallest and spikiest haired spirit spoke next. {We will have time for both, brothers. Let's destroy this 'spear of the Federation, first!} Enabran hovered, squatted and jumped. He soon exceeded Isaiah's hypersonic speeds and caught up with him over a bunch of canyons./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6c2e45a361d22681d93e5d1702320fe6"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"This is my first real fight/em, Isaiah thought. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I've barely had any training. This guy looks serious./em He dove, heading into the canyons. He slowed and maneuvered quickly through a canyon. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I'll have to use my brains this time! /emEnabran kept pace, and he noticed a stream of red light following behind Enabran. Isaiah looked at the canyon conditions and got an idea. He fired at an arch of limestone five hundred meters ahead, cutting it from the wall. He sped up in the straight canyon and flew at the arch as it fell. Enabran accelerated and reached with his hand to grab the human. A mere millisecond before impact, Isaiah darted under. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Skrash/span! Enabran flew through the three-ton arch, shattering it like glass. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="626d81238c44661d6e7e90493458a2d4"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Forbort! OK, round two!/em Isaiah spun back around and sped up. He saw that he was about to run out of canyon. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"This always works in the SpaceFighter series!/em {Computer, make a smokescreen! Then pull me downwards and cut my thrust!}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a7d36ba4275fef76994ee6040f113f55"{Initiating smokescreen maneuver}, the computer replied. Some protoform from his body entered the energy channels. Then he put his hands back. The wall approached quickly at their speeds. {Fire!} A thick black smoke shot from his hands. Then he plummeted. {Now part two!} He looked up and saw the angry enemy fly through the smoke. The antigrav and feet thrust kicked in and ended his fall. The enemy crashed through the canyon wall with a span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"trhump/span!/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f5ac7ec54fa64586c12a49e5079ef451""You're windshield juice now, asshole!" Isaiah shouted into the hole./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="12fd44e1b57ab32731a46f9f11ffae09""Far from it, human!" the five spirits responded, their voices distorted by the cave he made. Enabran quickly flew out, looking a bit banged up and his clothes a bit torn, but no worse for wear. "Your tricks will work no further!" Enabran swung his left arm from right to left. A curved band of glowing, flaming matter flew at Isaiah./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4857216ba29d821276440f78daf9ea61"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"S***!/em Isaiah then dodged the band of magic fire. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"SIZZZSS/span! It sounded like the air itself was burning as it passed by him. Isaiah spun around and flew backward through the canyon, firing his plasma bolts at Enabran. Enabran dodged and swatted a few away. But one found its mark. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"BTOOM/span! He flew upwards, momentarily stunned. Isaiah saw his chance and flew to the other edge of the canyon and landed two hundred meters away. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="08b9f9e45b164db8ac746f98ce993491"Enabran landed and focused his power. The red aura of energy around him grew larger. He pointed his hand in the shape of a gun at Isaiah. Isaiah turned to the side and aimed his right palm at him. He increased the power output to as high as he had fired at the Romulan bird-of-prey. Jem style="box-sizing: border-box;"ust like a Western movie! A duel... to the death!/em {FIRE!} Isaiah's nearly blinding phaser energy beam shot forth. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"VOOKUUM/span! The magic energy shot forth in a bullet-sized red ball of doom. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2506789868d31d646bfd19736d67bee5"Isaiah's aim was wide left and missed Enabran by half a meter. The beam struck a mountain, went through it and the mountain violently exploded. Meanwhile, Enabran's bullet of burn hit the ground seven meters in front of Isaiah. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"KAS-THUUMM/span! It burst open upon hitting the land and a wave of solid energy and soil crashed over and into Isaiah as if he was on a beach. The blinding, burning explosion knocked him off back another kilometer and left a massive curved hole in the ground. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e71d1a74a73b6b146754d445fc36f151"The onboard computer jolted Isaiah back to consciousness. He groaned in pain and his eyesight was full of warnings and damage alerts. He opened his eyes at the reddish sky above. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"This is pretty bad/em... He saw a blur of motion and span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"thuum/span! Enabran landed on top of him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7b5125adcd0fee31e830ea9383041170""YEARGHG!" Isaiah shouted. His shield system channeled away much of the force, but the magical abilities of Enabran made it difficult to compensate for the rest./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="564a59a17e8fbc5807aebfa96bdc5a40"Enabran grabbed Isaiah's torn shirt and pulled him up to eye level. "We enjoyed this fight, human monster of science. Our brothers will enjoy tales of how we ruined your mind and body, then your pathetic colony," the five spirits said./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="98b5fb52f0b4ffaf4b2112977460c0a6""You...gonna...ack..." Isaiah started to say, "You...gonna...let these...things...kill your family, Enabran?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2cd44b3cef84f4f36ee2ce2759456893""Enabran is gone, weakling," said the five spirits. "He was as weak as you."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="50f25c043a79dbdf96a9ab81639d0c4d"{IS THAT A CONFIRMED FACT?!} a voice from inside the orb boomed. Enabran's body dropped Isaiah. The five spirits looked down at the orb they were connected to. A face, Enabran's face appeared. {Let me show you the strength and discipline of the Cardassian mind!} A pulse of blue light shot from the orb, removing it from their combined grasp. They flew backward and slammed against the wall of the room. A fence fell from the ceiling, locking them away from the orb. The spirits fell to the floor. Enabran instantly appeared in the room, on the other side of the fence. {You let your guard down while you played with the human. I darted inside your minds and found your weaknesses,} He said with strong malice in his voice. He stared at the captured spirits. {I will never be your pawn}. He turned away and focused his attention on his body. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8eb1a65a1e4f47de595b214b6dbd028a"Isaiah saw Enabran hold out his left hand. Soon, an orb of red energy appeared in his hand. It was a little smaller than a basketball and bigger than a volleyball. Black smoke trails fizzled inside it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7e1d9766d2db949ec3dd784d96bdc5b6""Destroy this thing," said Enabran, "while I have them pinned."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="acfb1d699d5600a0ddedcaa16a6b1cd1""Fine with me," said Isaiah as he got to his knees and aimed both hands at the ball./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3bc37c3bffb1d7d0819f6e132918f5c4"{No, wait! Please don't!} said the five Pa Wraiths. The bald Pa Wraith said {We will be sent back to the spirit prison where our brethren are imprisoned!} The tallest spirit said {Don't destroy us! We beg of you!}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a40da236de8a2a84309351053977c1d5""They're pleading for their lives. How unfortunate," said Enabran to Isaiah./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="47102b9217c0c8b76b6ebc6b8cd7cc15""Ready to fire," said Isaiah./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="85b5a996309db0c10800ce52a9e27ef8"{Don't do it!} loudly said a Pa Wraith wearing sunglasses with four lenses. {We are prepared to offer you our power in exchange!}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="96c654b7ca13a87d2d58919a0576c56f"{Yes, we will!} the bald spirit said./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1c9d5e06d7f09b474ec5d520c8f8eb22"{Finally, you offer me something of value}, said Enabran. "Hold fire, Isaiah. I have broken the Pa Wraiths down."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9d9dc7f323499ec4a59fc085b42cc5db"Isaiah kept his aim on the orb. "You...sure?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ea5774513468be5fbaf357abdfd734b0"{I can't keep Isaiah waiting. Will you offer me as much control of your powers as I wish when merged with the orb?}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c3f84846a6287e90cee89c4f42d9583f"There was some momentary grumbling. Finally, the shortest Pa Wraith said {The five of us agree to the term of your alliance. However, you will not be as powerful as you can be with us in charge of your body.}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e37546dca1a50e40f7cc8e1857056242"{That is acceptable. But know this: take advantage of me in any way, and Isaiah or my Federation friends will destroy you. Clear?}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f76efcff5425374ef0d0af355159c20a"{Like Bajoran crystal}, said the Pa Wraith with the most feminine voice. The cage returned to the ceiling. This Pa Wraith walked up to Enabran's avatar and raised a hand. Enabran shook its hand. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="229930102954b68add01d3ed928fd97c"In the real world, the orb sucked back into Enabran's hand. Enabran lowered his hand. He looked at Isaiah. "I am back in control," he said. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6659503d96d9fe60f1cf23d6e5d3281b"Isaiah got to his feet. "So, now what do you want to do?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0db95cc04f95a34ded1a55f1ee00c195"Enabran looked around at the desert wasteland around them, then at Isaiah. "Test my new strength, of course." He crossed his arms. Red glowing light formed around his fists. He swung them back into a fighting stance and his entire body soon glowed with the same red light. A strong gust blew by, bending the aura with it. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c181e68e77f8e5ef3e158c6a6951d4ee"Isaiah looked at him closely. He looked as strong, if not stronger, than when he first powered up. Worry and fear filled his mind. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="054c601af6acbc48af7a81591376aad3""What is the problem, human?" asked Enabran. "I thought you were the colony's hero."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ee5d1bfdf1fd81576b3095af8e1676dd"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Oh, here we go again.../em thought Isaiah. The brief thoughts of death left his mind. He wiped the dirt from his eyes and raised his fists in a boxing style./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="43749e97eb59866a1ced4a40c821aed8""I can take that title from you, here and now," said Enabran./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="938d10271a09d8e4ce7e6123f1fd5a89""It's gonna take more than five gods to beat me!" shouted Isaiah, his fighting spirit now in full bloom. He rushed Enabran and threw the first punch, a right hook. Enabran's face barely moved. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3a1fd205f32ae2eeef3a6e328f65be47""Was that a love tap?" he asked./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="59237d3e16c2c8e47d10ab6e3a3e83d7""I...wha?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a9ab62c1739cae5785f9064c2ea9a5e7""This is a real punch!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="45e5dd30e559dfade22cf83b57b39a3d"Enabran's left cross spun Isaiah's head so far he could almost see his ass. The rest of his body spun comedically, and he tumbled to his hands and knees./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d6349da325930ef40bbc7e7ce3f29317""This is a real kick!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="769452238c25957d6a93102aa337a085"Enabran's left foot connected hard into his prone chest, sending the boy off the ground. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"FABSSS/span! An energy blast from Enabran's hand sent the boy flying back and face first into the unforgiving ground. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f68fe676d43c5cd07fd166d10561279e"Isaiah shook his head and floated to his feet. He was exhausted, in a lot of pain (especially in the neck) and a bit confused./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="864571bfb3817767e30eb79464a97a82"{Computer, what's going on? Why can't I hurt him?} he asked his computer./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2478feb2a6991dc9da35f11db59155d6"{He is stronger than you.}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1ff556b231dcf86a895e1212b1f45a99"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"OK then/em. He wiped some blood from his nose. {How can I hit him harder?}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="098a40d88f21e71e6231ddf4acc3ec51"{Use momentum energy from your movements to apply more force to his body.}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="67ad570c4377b152ba68037464fcbf68"{OK. Add more power to my shields and structural integrity fields.} He crouched down and clenched his right fist. {Shoot me at him like a bullet.}/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a9c42c2b918c12865a10be8ad09f541d""Giving up already?" said Enabran with a laugh. "I thought you humans were famously persis-ANNG!" span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"thoom/span! Isaiah shot through the air, and his fist connected with Enabran's forehead. Enabran got knocked off his feet and bounced off the ground a few times. He recovered quickly, aided by the power of his five new 'friends'. "You'll pay for that!" he shouted and shot towards Isaiah as he was recovering. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c3c618c023ad55da56a5f79fb1094af5"They collided and flew upwards, trading blows and kicks so fast even their enhanced eyes had trouble keeping up. At the end of an exchange, Enabran caught Isaiah's punch and kick. He smirked. Then a flurry of fists and kicks hit Isaiah hard and he drifted backward. "Agh! Help!" he said./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fb9bd29f36c637d4b6c324738dc05d59"{Recommend blocking,} the computer suggested./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f79506b02242f40b335e52cd203bd328"Isaiah blocked two punches and used his right leg to block a kick. Now it was his time to smirk. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"pow/span! Enabran clocked him in the face with his other leg, knocking loose a tooth in the process. "Computer, smoke screen!" Isaiah fired a blast of smoke in his face./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fa804d1d174af158d4602fed04e8cde7""Blarg!" Enabran coughed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6c1c4c8a3f744adc407bdcf684dd313d""Computer, shield shove!" span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"wauhmp/span! The shove knocked Enabran out of the sky and back to the unforgiving ground. A small crater appeared where he collided. Isaiah aimed his palm at the fallen Cardassian. {Computer! Antimatter bomb! 50 kiloton detonation!} A tiny ball of antimatter wrapped around a magnetic field flew out of his hand and down at Enabran's head. Enabran saw it coming and raised his hands. A blinding light overtook everything. Then the shockwave overtook everything around Isaiah as he was blasted skyward. Alert messages flooded his view. Then the pain hit and everything turned black. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="34334346943b62d230d3e1185ebdff15"Enabran woke up and took a deep breath. He coughed as hot dust entered his lungs. He tried to look around, but he could not see. {Hey, Pa Wraiths! Am I dead?} he asked. span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"click/span! His eyes quickly healed and he could see he was in a deep crater. {Thank you for the assist!} He sat up. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"So this is what being at ground zero of a nuclear explosion looks like./em span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"thuddkKKSSS/span! Isaiah smacked into the slope in front of him and slid haphazardly down, face first, and landed butt pointed up in front of Enabran./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="89306ba4883b90f067ce2b80164592f7""Ooohhhgg," Isaiah whined./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0f469880142b25b3d0e8e149ce08db64""You might have *cough* went a bit overdrive here," said Enabran./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="efe02b504fc98517a56757c1ee0a598f""Yeah... a... little...ugh."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fc7e14949c58078b02860389681100c1""Let's call it a draw," said Enabran./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9c02d44cfec0999c32730bcf0df5066f""I won, stupid."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="573e9663dca5119b15eb45f4b58b07c5""Nardcrap. I blasted you into another district."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a0427c639bc7a062832650325d8e0c60""I barely felt that." He rolled over and started heaving./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ee4b7e453fe0f5a5ab584c02ba79168d"Enabran sat up. "So why are you breathing so hard?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fc3dcafa1201065a598ddab0ba12dec5"Isaiah was about to reply when transporter energy engulfed them. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222; text-align: center;" data-p-id="d3a7ed7a8c51c7efa06684bb9bfe9809"Oregon family laboratory,/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222; text-align: center;" data-p-id="42fb6dbaadd553018862381ec79805cd"30 minutes later./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5e405874e94d64863095ce3ffa0abc62"After being (painfully) hosed down with decontamination spray, they limped to the hospital. Their respective healing abilities were overtaxed and they needed bandaging, ice packs, tooth replacement, and bone mending. Once that was done, their parents called a meeting. They sat awkwardly around a table in the laboratory as their parents angrily confronted them. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6df8631da455f54bab75a8cbaf8a46a2""What were you thinking?" Nana asked forcefully. "You could've been killed!" She waved her hands at the wall. "You could've gotten us all killed!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2e2620494e3910c79873289a75a98174""He did it!" Enabran and Isaiah pointed fingers at each other. They looked at each other. "No, you did it!" they said./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a176ede0cebadde919d3205780e3f72c""What I don't understand is where you got your powers from, Enabran Ize," said Gabriel./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e97fd70484e45807431646aa3d11bdf2""It is a family secret," Enabran replied./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3fd4f4809eca09b434014c287a4df930""Do not lie to the humans, boy!" Enabran's mother said. Crossing her arms at her stomach wrinkled her shirt./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7fc9b63406b8ca4733eeac92a006b984""I was possessed by five evil spirits from Bajor. Everything is fine. I control them now." Red energy flames briefly shot up from his shoulders. "Mostly."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2deddc782213ae703aad2e3d0c477399""Nardcrap," she replied./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5f061f52927184505fa9d0bb408bfe14"He looked away from her. "Barely."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="18bfdcd4fd5bbdb94583fc0366962f07""Put the evil spirits back in their box."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0be8cab9ced8fd9a30581900a604dbb7""But mother! They make me powerful!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2ef545eba23c866bd7315203f0ac69e4""Don't embarrass me in front of the humans!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0de406ac3c9500241f9178d82220b00a""Fine, fine. As you wish..." Enabran removed the box, bent down and the orb from his mind flew out of his back and back into the enlarged power containment box. "You have made them unhappy." /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4efc15d3c3667d831c874b28567d19e5"Gabriel looked at the box, with the central opening glowing red. He looked at Ms. Ize. "Ms Ize, I'd like to study to box and its contents. It could prove to be a gold mine of scientific discovery and-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f6548b1e54c6ebe9d57d50dbe8c6ff16""Mr. Oregon, that's all well and good. But the artifact is Cardassian property and should remain so. Despite my son's boneheaded approach, we are the best qualified to deal with it."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="55f5d8b453041ddce98aadc4356311f0""But-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="48671c7c9056d112ffa894e514d43923""Besides, Mr. Oregon," she pointed at his son, "you already have one nuclear weapon in your household." She put the box into her large bag./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="99c3eaf6c21432f255c1489e4236bc16""Yeah, Isaiah!" shouted Nana. "What the hell were you thinking? Why'd you throw a nuclear explosion at him? I saw the photos from the satellite!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dd3203395a516b88f3cb76eaba0d3f4d"Isaiah lowered the ice pack from the bruise on his head. "But mom! I was trying to kill him!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8d2030512eed28337cad66220403abf1""And failing miserably," Enabran added./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c8ec5590546f0e66e809e8ddb9e20cf1""Besides, it's a wasteland. Who's gonna care about a few craters out there anyway?" /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0e38814f0e084bd85c962813d72f33a6"Nana turned around and walked out of the room while pulling her hair. "I can't deal with this! Gabriel, talk to the boy!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="650ad058238ff577166c1602c39a22f0""But honey..." Gabriel turned around and whined, following after her. "You're supposed to do the discipline."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f736ef3c37043d59a9f7bab8e2b24e77"Enabran's mom got up and said "Let's go home, son. They've got problems we can't solve."/p 


	5. Peace Talks

Opening sequence starts the same as last week. TNG song for ten seconds with visuals of the colony planet. Then fast zoom to the colony and to Isaiah. Song changes to a remix of "Rock the Dragon" with 'star trek: colony" replacing half the lyrics. Rapid scenes of Isaiah fighting Enabran. A kssst! sound follows for a second. A brief half-transparent image of a Klingon male in armor appears. Cut to show name, and Isaiah flying forwards over the colony. Go to commercial.

High school classroom  
a day after the fight,

Ms. Talllk banged her ruler against the podium. "Class, settle down. Earl! That doesn't go there!" She banged the ruler twice more as the rest of the class sat down with humans scattered about and the other races grouped together. "Our class is growing bigger today! We will be adding ten students from the Klingon quarter." She looked at him. "Earl, don't provoke them."

"Why you askin' me?" asked Earl.

"You know why."

"Why?"

"Because, fellow student," Enabran explained, "a Klingon can snap your neck faster than the teacher or Isaiah can stop them."

"Oh, yeah, that part..." Earl then gulped.

"Are you calling me slow?" Isaiah stood up and demanded.

"Just slow in reaction time, not in actual speed," Enabran said while looking away from him.

The Deltan students caught the veiled insult and made a "loooo" sound.

"I was certainly fast at kicking your ass!" Isaiah shouted.

Enabran stood up, ready for a fight. "I literally hit you thirty times before you learned how to block!"

Isaiah clenched his fist "I have structural integrity fields and Constitution class shielding! What do I need blocking for?"

"All those bruises on your face say otherwise!"

The Tellarites first, then the other students, made the "loooooo" sound, indicating that Isaiah had shamed himself. Isaiah wasn't going to tolerate this for long. "I broke four of your ribs with a nuclear blast!"

Enabran laughed and said "Ha! You call that a nuclear blast? Bajoran Hasperat is stronger!"

"Next time, I'll aim for that stupid spoon mark on your forehead!" Isaiah took a step towards him.

"Do you want me to get the Pa Wraiths? We can finish where we left off!" Enabran took a step towards him.

whap whap whap! "That's enough! Sit down, both of you!" the teacher ordered. The boys glared at each other. "Sit down or there will be detention for everyone except the new students!" They stopped angrily looking at each other and sat down. "This is the Federation, not Orion! We do not tolerate classroom power battles here!"

"He started it!" they both said.

"Doesn't matter! I'm finishing it!" She took a deep breath. "For the second bit of news, many of the refugees have filed citizenship claims. Completion of compulsory education will make your application seen in a more favorable light. That means graduate high school and don't kill each other." She looked at Enabran when she said that part.

One of the Cardassian boys raised his hand. "What about killing Earl?"

"Hey!" said Earl.

The teacher smiled. "You're allowed, in human terms, one 'mulligan'."

"Hey!"

"Don't blame me. It's in the regulations."

"Hey!"

The Cardassian smiled at Earl, exposing their sharp teeth. "You're dead after school."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Earl," said the teacher. "Anything that happens after you leave school grounds is not my responsibility."

"HEY!"

"Really?" Genji asked.

"We're only paid to care for eight hours a day. It's in the teacher's handbook."

The door opened and in walked seven Klingon teenagers. Five were girls and two were boys. One tall teenager ducked under the doorway to get inside. Like many Klingons, they had dark skin with a bumpy ridge than ran across their forehead. Two of the females and all of the boys had some to a lot of long bushy hair.

"These are K'tsow, B'Elanna, B'Tana, Kah'Hur, and L'elosh," explained the teacher as she looked at her left. "And they are Krell Martok and Jidod Morg."

"Mogh," the tall one said with a groan.

"Mog. We will handle cultural introductions next week. Students, take those empty seats by Earl in the left corner."

The five girls sat by Earl, pushing and bumping into people on the way. Jidod and Krell sat by Genji because they're Klingons and they don't listen. Ms. Talllk ignored them and went about her class preparations.

"I hear you're funny," said B'Tana, a tall Klingon teenager. "Tell me a joke." She slammed her fist on the desk. "NOW!"

Earl nearly jumped out of his seat when she slammed her fist on the table. "Uh...why did the chicken cross the road?" Earl meekly asked.

"To..." B'Tana stalled.

"To be eaten in GlORIOUS BATTLE! HAhAAHA!" K'tshow said and laughed, then slapped Earl on the back. The other Klingons started laughing heartily followed by the rest of the class.

"That was pretty funny," said Ms. Talllk. "Good work, Earl. You live for the rest of the day. Anyway," she turned on the projector. A diagram of the planet's tectonic plates appeared. "We are going to study how planetquakes happen. That is, when they are not caused by our students."

After classes and lunch, the students piled up by the entrance. Some playful pushing and shoving were going on, but then it turned racial and vicious. Genji saw a Klingon middle schooler put a human elementary school kid in a headlock and powerslam him into the ground. The kid bounced over the Klingon kid and spun around the air, before slamming into a garbage can. She raced over to the entrance as fast as she could and stopped the brawling kids.

"Hey, that's enough!" she shouted. "There's no need for violence!"

"He started it! He hit my brother!" said the Klingon teenager.

"Did...not!" the wounded boy whined while wiping away tears.

"Then you hit my sister!"

"She was...ungh...stealing candy."

"Then I'm ending it!" Genji said.

"Screw off, lady! I can take you on!" the Klingon kid boasted and two Klingon kids backed him up.

Genji took out her communicator. "You like fighting, huh? Want me to call the Romulans back?" She started to pretend pressing buttons. "They'll fight you right here and now."

"OK, Genji, that's enough!" said Mrs. Crabapple, the elementary school teacher. "Let me handle this." A woman with very curly hair and a pink puffy dress walked on over.

"But-"

"No buts, I know what to do. But, you can help."

"What do you need?"

"Get our heroes."

About five minutes later, Mrs. Crabapple and a big group of students had gathered by the entrance. A kid ran up to her and gently passed her a ball with black and white spots on it.

"Today, kids, you will learn how to play soccer. You need to learn teamwork and this game is great at it. Follow me." She started walking to the large playing field behind the classroom trailers. The kids followed after her.

At the field, they saw some teachers carrying large nets attached to poles and a teacher drawing some circles with white paint on the dirt in between the nets.

The teacher stopped walking and turned around to address her restive students. "Soccer is a two team game. If you want to play, you will be drafted by our two coaches, Enabran and Isaiah."

"What?" asked Isaiah.

"Me?" asked Enabran. "I have never even heard of the game!"

"That's OK, it's pretty basic. Mr. Wilder and Mr. Stolvis the Vulcan will be the referees."

"But I-"

"And here's my datapad," said the teacher. She passed it to Enabran. "Rules are on the first page. Now hurry up and choose your teams."

"I... yes, ma'am." He looked at the students. Most of them were boys and many of them were human. "Who here knows how to play soccer?" Many hands went up. "Then you are on my team."

"Hey! That's not fair!" Isaiah complained.

"This is a human game. I'm sure you already know how to play it," Enabran said with a smile.

"Grrr...fine! I'm not going to take it easy on you! The rest of you kids come with me!" Isaiah walked over to the set of other benches that had been installed on the dusty ground. He looked over his team of four human boys of various ages, two Tellarite girls who were almost as tall as him, three Klingon boys, and three Cardassian girls. "Uh... so I'm your coach. How many of you know how to play?"

"Do I get to punch people?" asked a Klingon boy with many ridges in his forehead.

"No that's rugby, but you can kick them if they're in the way of the ball. You can't trip or hit when they're away from the ball."

"Awww..."

"I know it's different from what you're used to." He bent down to the boy's height. "It might seem scary or strange at first. It's not a hard game. You must stop the other team from kicking the ball in our net on our side, and kick the ball into their net on the other side. Only feet and head, no hands."

A ball bounced over to their new benches. "Grab that ball and practice passing with your feet," he ordered his players. They headed over to the ball when Isaiah tapped the shoulder of one of the human boys. "Hey, do you know soccer well?"

"Yes, sir," The boy responded. "I used to play on Deneva."

Isaiah turned around and saw Enabran. He was looking at the datapad while the other kids practiced when Isaiah looked his way. Satisfied, Isaiah looked back at the human boy. "Have you ever heard of a player called Neymar?"

Game time

The game started off as most youth soccer games do; kids running around confused and passing that was less crisp than coaches would like. Whistles blew frequently, followed by a quick explanation of certain rules by the understanding referees, and encouragement from the sidelines.

One of the Cardassian girls on Coach Isaiah's team kicked the ball deep into the other teams right flank. The human boy Isaiah spoke to was down there and took control of the ball. A Klingon was defending the ball and they jostled for it. The human boy looked at the coach. Isaiah mouthed the words "Neymar". The boy dribbled the ball two more steps forward, then fell down, clutching his knee and screamed. The whistle blew.

"Hey I didn't touch him there!" the Klingon boy yelled.

"I saw the whole thing," said the Vulcan referee. "Free kick, Isaiah's team!" The 'wounded boy' miraculously recovered and ran towards the goal.

On the sideline, Coach Enabran seethed. He looked at Coach Isaiah, who winked at him. _That sneaky forbort! I know he's up to something_! He turned and shouted to his team "Get in the box! Protect the goal!"

One of the tall Tellarite girls ran over to the ball and kicked it. It flew over the heads of the other team and into the net above the leaping goalie. The referee whistled, signaling a clean goal. Isaiah's team celebrated, the human kids started doing weird dances and the other players copied them. Fans on the other side of the field cheered. This pattern continued for a while, as Isaiah's players used "Neymar" to get advantageous shots and goals. Soon it was four to nil when he pointed to a frustrated human boy on his team to sub out.

"What is going on?" asked Enabran. He wiped some sweat from the boy's face with a towel one of the teachers brought.

"I think they're using the Neymar! It's not fair!" the boy complained and shook in rage.

"Neymar, huh? Very well. Two can play at that game. Tell the other humans on our team to use the Neymar, especially when the referees don't have a good view."

"Got it, coach!" Enabran smiled when he heard the phrase.

On the other side of the field, Jidod and Genji were sitting on a long thick tree branch of an implanted live-oak tree. These trees have thick horizontal branches that make for good seats (when bugs aren't crawling on them). They watched the game become a stop&start affair (much like Brazilian soccer) as kids randomly fell all over the field and whistles constantly blew.

"Is this what you had in mind by making peace?" Jidod asked her.

"It's a start. Peace is a goal that takes a lot of steps," said Genji. "If we can learn to play together, then we can learn to live together."

"That is quite the goal," he replied.

"It's a worthy one. I believe it with all of my heart." They watched a referee raise a yellow card to one of the Klingon boys on Isaiah's team. "What's your goal?"

"Since my family is joining the Federation, I suppose I need a Federation goal."

"What does your heart say?"

"To break the Klingon empire. And also, painting."

"Those sound like fun goals."

Enabran's team scored and soon the score was tied. The game ended soon after, with togetherness and friendship (and loophole abuse) being the real winner. This was the ultimate goal of the teaching staff at New Busan Colony, like teachers in our time, to teach students how to work together despite their many differences. Will it be a success? Tune in next week on Dragon Ba...er Star Trek: Colony.


	6. Kahless

Opening sequence: Same as Ep 14, but after the music starts, replace one of the Borg fight scenes with the scene where Jingwei smashed Jidod into the ground. At the black background with the ksst! sound, a semi-transparent image of the symbol of the Klingon Empire drifts by from right to left. The show title appears with the main characters standing in a line. Instead of Genji, a human-sized Jingwei is in the leader position next to Austin. The screen flashes for an instant and Jingwei is glowing red. Cut to commercial.

Commander Pence's office, city hall,

8:00 AM

The door swung open and Austin stepped inside. The security guard stood up from his creaky chair where he'd been sleeping most of the night and lifted the phaser rifle off his lap.

"You're here early, sir," said the guard.

"Evil works 24-7, Mr. Jang."

"Weekends, too?"

"Oh yeah." He pressed his badge to the office door. "Especially weekends." The door swung open. The office had many hardened tables arranged like barricades around the room. Ensign Purcell and the night shift were leaving the office when he arrived. "Anything very important happened?"

"Just a couple of cave creature sightings in the northern woods. Other than that, a quiet shift," said Ensign Purcell. He yawned and walked for the door. "You also got a medium-priority message from Starfleet Security."

"Did you read it?" asked Austin.

"No, sir. It was quote for your eyes only unquote."

Austin got a cup of Klingon coffee made at the replicator and checked the identities of his daytime team, then opened the message from Chekov. Our sources on Qo'noS say the KI has learned of your hero team's battles. There's talk of a plan to take back the Kahless bat'leth. You should be prepared for Klingon incursions in the next 2 weeks. Austin read the message again. _So much for a boring assignment_, he thought.

Jidod Mogh's house,

that night

"One of the security officers told me," said Jidod to his father. His father was not in the room, but on planet Khitomer, a neutral planet near the border with the Romulan and Klingon empires. Even his presence on the viewscreen made Jidod a little calmer.

"The hand of the Federation reaches deep into our territory," explained Jidod's father. "No matter. Ever since you claimed the blade, have you felt the envy of others for it?"

"Yes, father. Mostly from my rivals. But they remain suspicious of the blade. Almost fearful of it."

"The abilities you've gained from it do not match the historical records or any legends. I do not think the empire itself will claim the bat'leth." He looked around the dark room he was in. "The leaders probably think it's a hoax."

"So what should I do, father?"

"You might have to fight to keep the blade in a new Age of Ascension Ceremony." He waved his hands around to demonstrate. "Instead of being hit with sticks or crawling through sharp stones, you'll probably have to fight to keep it."

"I can handle it. I won't let Kahless down."

"That is only half the problem," Jidod's father replied. A Klingon yelled at another Klingon behind him. He started speaking again. "If one of those challengers win, they will certainly try to become the Torchbearer and start a civil war or even make war against the Romulans."

"That sounds bad, father."

The Klingons behind him started looking at the screen. "You have to win, son. For the good of the empire."

"For the Empire!" screamed the Klingons standing behind him.

"But we're joining the Federation, father."

"For the Federation!" screamed the Klingons behind him.

"Will you ding**** shut up?!," said Jidod's father in Klingon. "I'm almost done here!" He looked back at the screen. "Whatever happened to headphones anyway?" He shook his head. "Look, son. Find someone to train you. Maybe those crazy rivals of yours."

"I understand. Goodbye, father."

"Good fighting son. May the light of Kahless lead you to victory!"

"TO VICTORY!" shouted the Klingons behind him.

Jiodod's father turned around. "You daylight drunk mother****** just got on my last nerve!" shouted his father and the connection dropped.

Jidod went through the possibilities in his mind. _Who can train me here? Genji is not a sword fighter and Jingwei is too big. I'll get stepped on again. Enabran is powered by evil. He's not a swordsman either. Isaiah is a rank beginner, but he might be the only one who can use a blade. I should ask the other men in town but they'll get ambitious. But maybe..._

He was about to pick up the phone when he heard a knock at the door. He got up from the computer and opened the door. An older, wet Klingon man stood at the front step, rain pouring down. Lightning bolts nearby lit up his features. He had long gray hair, ridges going up his forehead to the top of his head where his hair started. He had on Klingon battle armor, but it had a styling Jidod was not familiar with. "Who are you?" he asked the man.

"I hear you are in need of a trainer," said the Klingon warrior. "May I come in?"

Two weeks later,

The mayor continued to play with her action figures as the office around her was a madhouse.

"Ohmigawd!" screamed a woman. "The Klingons are here!"

"But I'm a Klingon!" said the Klingon city council leader.

"The evil Klingons are here!" the woman screamed as she ran for the bathroom.

"Hooray! More fighting!" the Klingon city council leader cheered and left to get his bat'leth.

"Madam Mayor," said Mr. Smithers, "the Klingon ship is on line one and Starfleet Command is on line two."

"Bah!" She threw her toys over her desk and pouted. "Fine! Line one!"

The viewscreen switched from colony management info to a close-up view of the Klingon ship, then a view of the bridge. "This is Captain K'worom Zulor, house of Vrag! I demand landing rights and access to the bat'leth of Kahless!" the captain demanded.

"NO!" said the young mayor. She lifted her nose up and looked away from the screen in disgust.

"How dare you deny me, human rugrat!" the captain shouted.

"You interrupted my playtime! Go home and Kahless yourselves!"

"Madam Mayor!" said Mr. Smithers. "Please stay calm!"

"Why is a girl in charge?" asked the irritated captain. He looked at his crew in the poorly lit bridge.

"The Vulcans used to call us weird," said the Klingon first officer.

"You will give us what we want or we will destroy your colony and take what we want from the remains of your charred corpses!" the captain ordered.

Mr. Smithers tugged on his tie to loosen it. But the mayor was not paying attention. She looked at the angry Klingon with his bugged-out eyes and tried to imitate him. When that didn't garner a response, she said "We have heroes who will stop you! So tthppttt!"

"Heroes?" asked the captain.

"The others from the video," the first officer responded.

"Yes, heroes! They will break your bones and sink your battleships. So buzz off! THHPPTT!"

"Never have I endured a diplomatic afford such as this!" the captain exclaimed.

"We should respond in kind!" the first officer said. Mr. Smithers put his hands on his face.

"TTHHBBTT!" the captain replied.

Jidod and the older Klingon walked in. "Ms. Mayor!" said Jidod. "Let them land."

The mayor stopped spitting at the screen. "Why?" she asked.

"I will handle them."

"We will handle the matter peacefully," said the older Klingon with gray hair.

The mayor crossed her arms and looked at the captain. "Fine! You can land! But you must bring me Klingon ice cream!"

"We don't have ice cream!"

"Then you can't land! PPTHTTP!" She hung up on the Klingon ship.

"Why is she in charge?" asked the older Klingon to Jidod.

"No one except her wanted the job," Jidod explained.

Isaiah's house,

same time.

The colony science team took a sip of their coffee, then continued to talk sense to Isaiah.

"You need to stop making so many craters on the planet," the new leader Jee-Jee explained. "We might be losing valuable scientific data every time you and your team punch a hole in the ground."

Isaiah put his hands on his hips. "You make it sound like I want to be punched or nuked into the ground!"

"Well, no, but you need to learn how to block."

"Or dodge," said Jones. "Dodging would help, too."

"I can't believe this!" Isaiah complained. "Other than cave monsters, abandoned cities, and apparently ancient mobile giants, there ain't crap on this planet! What are you worried about?"

"Besides you triggering a planetquake, or awakening another nest of cave creatures, or finding another death machine...oh nothing in particular," said Jee-Jee.

Isaiah stood up. He was about to tell them to take a hike when a call came in. He picked up his communicator. "What?!" he asked.

"You're needed at the open space by the soccer field, pronto," said Mr. Smithers.

"Why? Are the Klingons invading?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes," Mr. Smithers answered straightly.

Isaiah's eyes grew larger. He sighed. "Alright. Give me a minute. Let me put some pants on."

Ms. Talllk's high school class, at the soccer field

a half hour later.

"Pay attention, class!" Ms. Talllk shouted to her growing, enlarging, rearming class of 40 students. "Today's lesson is apparently on rapid construction." She pointed to the field. "In about ten minutes, we are going to receive a transport of construction materials." She pointed to three adults next to her. "You're going to help these construction experts here build something."

"What are we building?" asked Genji.

"Something called a tournament stage. The Klingons coming here want to have -"

"Wait! I want to say it!" shouted Earl.

"Say what, Earl?"

"Wait for it…" He jumped and stretched his arms out "MORTAL KOMBAT doo doo doo du du du TEST YOUR MIGHT!"

The construction experts shrugged their shoulders or looked confused. Ms. Talllk shook her head and muttered: "Oh fu** nardcrap no." She stopped muttering and looked at the class. "Look, just go where they want you to go and do what they want you to do! Maybe you'll learn something today!"

And so they went to work, and by that, they let Isaiah do the key task of generating a large stage from the ground up to a meter in height, Enabran levitating the walls and roof frame into position so the students could hold it in place and attach, and Genji the job of adding the Klingon symbols with a can of spray paint. Once those key bits were put in place, the kids learned how to attach photonic wiring and helped install the lights, comms gear, and a few Section 31 hidden cameras (don't tell their moms). Ms. Talllk caught a group of lazy Deltan girls fixing their makeup behind the dojo and made them carry in the combat mats. Everything was complete in less than an hour with the only hiccup being Enabran nailgunning Earl's hand to a support post when he wouldn't stop shouting "MORTAL KOMBAT!". It was declared an 'accidental discharge'.

Once all the colonists left, a portal opened up and Jidod and the older Klingon walked in. He wore some recently made Klingon battle armor, and his heart was as hard as the material covering him. Jidod knelt down and the older Klingon stood by his side as they watched the door. A few moments passed and the first of the Klingon warriors walked inside with their usual prideful boasting, though some were solemn and silent. They walked towards Jidod and his new master, bat'leths and blades in their hands. They stopped in front of the calm and focused teenager holding the bat'leth.

"I am K'mtar. My charge, Jidod of the House of Mogh and wielder of the bat'leth of Kahless, stands ready," said the older Klingon warrior. "State your business, warriors of the Empire!"

One of the warriors stepped forward, a Klingon man not carrying any weapons. "I Captain K'worom Zulor, house of Vrag, bring to you fifty of the bravest warriors ever gathered in the Klingon Empire!" He banged his chest twice and the men behind him did as well. "We, the warriors of the Empire, demand you hand over the bat'leth without delay. For the Federation has made you soft and weak! Only a true son of Qo'noS should carry this blade!" The men behind him grunted in approval.

"Really?" Jidod said, lifting his head up to look at his competition. "The empire only has fifty brave warriors? Captain, I have faced the great terrors of this galaxy thrice with this blade and brought them down. Your men are hardly worth the challenge."

"How dare you speak ill of us and the empire?!" shouted the captain.

"You may have this bat'leth, in the words of the humans, when you pry it from my cold, dead, fingers." Jidod stood up.

"You heard the warrior," said K'mtar. "Each of you may fight him, one on one. The first person to kill him wins the bat'leth."

"Music to my ears," said a human voice standing at the rear. The Klingons turned around. It was a male human. It was Isaiah.

"You cannot participate!" shouted a Klingon. "This is a Klingon affair! You are just a human!"

Isaiah smiled wickedly. He pointed his palm at the floor. One of the pads hovered in the air and he moved it out of the way. Then he knelt and touched the ground that he raised and smoothed out earlier. The ground glowed and a pillar of light raised as he stood up. The light soon stopped and in its place was a duranium blade about two meters long. He took out of his pocket a length of cord and quickly wrapped it around the handle. "Good thing I'm more than human, then." He swung the blade, making a 'schwing' sound with its first movement in the air. "Who's ready to die first?"

"This is a trap!" shouted the captain. "Kill them all!" He stepped to the side of the stage as his warriors readied themselves. "First person to kill the traitor wins the blade!"

"Wreck these fools, Jidod," K'mtar said as he stepped back.

"With. Pleasure," Jidod replied as he got into the braced stance K'mtar showed him.

The first wave of three mustached Klingon warriors approached Jidod. _Remember your training. _He saw the closest warrior raise his bat'leth for an overhead strike, and the other two on his sides held theirs to the side for a side swing. _Hmph. Amateurs. _He swung up, to the left and back to the right with the bat'leth in his left arm. ching ching ching thuck thuck thcuk! The bat'leths flew from their hands and got stuck in the roof's pillars. The Klingons looked confused and alarmed at Jidod. Jidod growled slightly. They nodded and backed away.

Isaiah, meanwhile, fought with the opposite; a total lack of grace in his movement. Raw hatred and envy fueled his movements as he hacked his way through the weak opposition. The strong metal of the bat'leths got sliced like butter, along with the flesh of the Klingons, by Isaiah's powerful swings. But this method left him open to attacks from behind. brtss! Attacks that would bounce effortlessly off his shields. Unlike Jidod, Isaiah ran and spun around the room, slashing at anyone in his way. He jumped off pillars and fell into crowds of Klingon warriors, spinning his body and blade at inhuman speeds. Limbs got sliced off their bodies at a ridiculous rate.

Jidod continued to hold his position, but the number of dismembered limbs and screams certainly caught his attention. A young warrior holding a d'k tahg knife ran towards him to stab him. Jidod barely noticed him as he went for the stab. He used his enhanced speed to spin to his left, catch the young warrior's wrist with his right arm as the stab missed, pull the warrior's arm down and twist around his back, causing him to drop the d'k tahg knife. "How?" the warrior groaned. A swift kick in the ass sent him tumbling away from Jidod. He heard footsteps from his right, now that his back was to the other fighters. For other fighters, this would be a mistake. He looked and saw a Klingon but no bat'leth. _A low swing! _He turned right and leaned to the side, narrowly dodging the upward swing by the warrior. He continued the turn and spun his bat'leth back towards his arm, then punched the warrior with the flat side of the bat'leth in his hand. The warrior hit the pad, knocked clean out.

Isaiah took some deep breaths. A pile of fallen Klingons laid around him. He heard a thump and turned around. A smaller but equally impressive group of groaning Klingons laid around Jidod. He looked at the calm Klingon and the anger grew stronger in his heart. He turned and walked on top of the fallen, crying Klingons, towards his ultimate opponent, their cries growing louder as he stepped on them. He swung the blood off his blade and pointed it off to the right. "You know why I've come," he said as he approached.

Jidod started walking towards him. "You have enough power. You do not need more," said Jidod.

"I need more, more power, to protect this colony. I can end this in one strike. Give it to me or I'll slice it and you in half."

Jidod smirked. "Bring it." He saw Isaiah raise the blade above his head and knew what was coming. _Of course. Another amateur. _He raised the bat'leth of Kahless above his head as well.

"I'M SENDING YOU TO KLINGON HELL! LIGHT!SPEED! STRRIIKKKEE!" Isaiah leapt towards Jidod and swung his blade as fast as he could. whssthoom!

Jidod stepped out of the way just as the speedy blade began to swing. He swung his blade down right at the spot he wanted to, just in front of Isaiah's chest and past his arms. clang! It hit the ground.

Nnneoww! Isaiah felt something weird in his body. The information display along the edges of his vision disappeared. He noticed the shield aura vanish. "What?! My shields are down!" he yelled. He knew he was in trouble so he began to tug on the sword. It was lodged past the pads and stuck in the ground.

Jidod, knowing it was his chance. slid his hand up the handle and spun the three blades up, then swung up as he twisted back. sccruuch! The middle blade sliced into Isaiah's chest and cut through his right collarbone then the side blade grazed Isaiah's hips then sliced into his stomach and up, cutting through his ribs and valuable equipment.

Isaiah let go of the blade and fell face first on the damaged floor as blood, protomatter, and other fluids poured out of him. Emergency alerts echoed in his stunned mind. He struggled to move, the pain in his body overcoming his resolve. He looked up at Jidod.

Jidod looked down his shoulder at the fallen, dying human. "Pathetic human. You thought you were powerful. Your moves are sloppy and untrained. You aren't worthy of the bat'leth of Kahless, the heart of Genji, let alone your current powers. You disgust me." He turned his back on his dying former friend.

"H..how..?" Isaiah asked.

"You failed to notice, didn't you? Or maybe you did and that's why you wanted the blade…" Jidod looked across his shoulder, hatred in his eyes. "There is more to power than how hard you swing your sword. Cross me again and you won't live to regret it." He nodded to K'mtar.

K'mtar whipped out his communicator. "Computer, emergency medical transport. Everyone except myself and Jidod Mogh."

"No…," said Isaiah but the transport beam enveloped him.

Town hospital, emergency care ward,

6 hours later.

Isaiah heard crying in the darkness. _I'm...dead? That's my mom's voice. She's crying at my funeral. _The light of the room began to seep into his eyes. _They put me in a cheap coffin?_ He opened his eyes. _I'm not dead!_ He felt a lot of pain across his chest. "Oohhh...mom?" He saw his father standing by his feet and his mother sitting along the bed, her face in her arms, crying. She stopped and raised her head.

"Son! Oh my!" Nana said. "I'm so happy! They told me you might have been in a coma!"

"What...happened?" he weakly asked.

"Let me explain," his father began. He tapped his son's leg with his right arm. "You were leaking everything all over the place. The doctors panicked and beamed us over here. They stitched you up, beamed you to our sarcophagus, and we had to run you through part of the empowering procedure again, then we beamed you back here for the rest of the medical work." He grunted. "We had to use up all of our transporter credits to save you. So no late transports to school."

"Honey!" Nana whined. She looked at her fallen son. "You're so reckless with your powers! We're getting complaints!"

"Why? What'd I do?" he asked.

"Lose your memory?" his father asked rhetorically. He turned around and slid the curtain open. Around the room were other beds. Doctors wearing surgical garb treated many of the Klingons seriously wounded by Isaiah. Their pained moans filled the room as limbs were surgically reattached, wounds stitched and pain relief administered. "Any of this ring a bell?"

"Uh...some…"

"Son, you're losing control." He pulled the curtain back and knelt down. "Your implants are pretty beat up." He stood back up. "You keep this up you're going to get yourself killed."

"Please don't die doing something you'll regret. Please," said Nana. "We want you to be a hero. That means being a good person. Not a power-mad lunatic."

"OK, mom, I understand." He leaned his head back.

"Really, Isaiah?" asked his father. "Because we've gone past the turning point. You can't go back to being fully human anymore. We need to know you're going to be OK before we upgrade you further."

He sighed and looked at his father. "You're right. I need to… uh, get smarter." He leaned back again and looked at the ceiling.

"C'mon, Gabe. Let's let him rest."

"In this triage room? Good luck with that." Nana stood up. "I think he should see what his power can do in the wrong hands." And with that, they walked away from their son.

"That's the wrong hand!" screamed a Klingon. "This is not my foot!" screamed another Klingon.

Isaiah stared at the ceiling, ignoring the pained moans and Klingons swearing around him. _They're right. Jidod's right. I have stronger enemies. I need training. I need to get stronger, faster, better. I can't do it on my own. I need a mentor. But who?_ He thought back to the moment he stepped inside. _Jidod had a mentor..._


	7. Growth

Opening sequence: A orbital view of the planet with a slight classical music background. Then a clip of the colony from the sky. Music changes to the Rock The Dragon remix. Montage of the three main characters fighting and blasting things and Genji running towards the fighting team from the last episode. Background goes black. A kssst! sound follows for a second. A brief half-transparent image of a beastly alien appears. Looks kinda like a hydralisk from Starcraft. Cut to show name, and Isaiah, Enabran, and Jidod flying forwards over the colony. Go to commercial.

Oregon family household,

8:30 am the next day.

Isaiah stood impatiently by the toaster. The toaster was taking its sweet time. _Man, this would be done by now if we had food replicators like on Earth!_ _Colony life is so sl-_ his train of thought stopped when the toaster spat out the perfectly toasted bread. He put it on his plate and spread on it some 0% cholesterol butter. The future is awesome, isn't it?

Gabriel walked into the room with no shirt on and drying off his hair with a towel. He shook his head briefly and saw Gabriel wolfing down the toast. "Are you going to be late for school?" he asked his son.

"No, dad. I can fly there. But I have to ask you something."

"Sure." He grabbed a glass from the cupboard. "What do you want to know?"

"How can I get stronger?" he asked his dad.

Gabriel poured a glass of 0% added sugar orange juice into the cup. Because the future is awes- hey we can haz this now! "You can blow up a planet, son. Why do you need to be stronger?"

"I mean physically stronger. So I can punch harder."

Gabriel took a slow sip. "It's complicated. Muscular strength is important but so is momentum and potential energy."

"Can we skip the science lecture? I gotta go to class."

"OK..." he walked with purpose to the lab while his son ate the other piece of toast, sending crumbs everywhere because teens eat like slobs they have robot vacuums. He came out of the laboratory with his datapad. He started scrolling through data and pressed some options. "I'm giving you more access to adjust the energy output subroutines. That was a cool trick with the sword, by the way."

"Thanks."

"But don't tell your mother about that."

"Don't tell me what?!" a woman's voice came from the bathroom.

"Nothing!" they both replied.

"Anyway son, you'd better run. And I suggest you train."

"Alright, dad!"

"Just not within 30 kilometers of the colony!" He managed to say that before Isaiah ran out the door.

Enabran also has the same questions as he walked to school. He talked to the Pa Wraith residing his body, rather than his mother. {I need to become stronger. I got wrecked yesterday fighting the super-Klingon.}

{I noticed,} said the shortest evil Pa Wraith spirit.

Enabran waved at a Cardassian student looking through the window. The cautious Cardassians took that as a good sign and their kids left their houses, following closely behind him. {Is there a way you can make me stronger?}

{We can...} the tallest Pa Wraith started to say.

{...but it would be like a river overflowing its banks and flooding the city next to it,} the female Pa Wraith finished.

{So I'd explode? That is problematic,} Enabran replied.

{We can only give you a little more of our strength...}

{But what will you do for us?} the shortest Pa Wraith asked.

{You like it when I fight. Yes?} he asked the Pa Wraiths with a sharp inflection at the question.

{It beats being stuck in the box, but...} the tallest Pa Wraith said.

{But we would like you to use our powers more creatively,} said the Pa Wraith with four eyes covered by glasses.

{And you will have to do favors for us.} said the Pa Wraith with the scariest voice.

{We can work something out. As long as I don't die first,} Enabran said in agreement. He opened the classroom door to an interesting situation.

Jidod argued with Ms. Talllk over the placement of his bat'leth. "It is a part of my cultural heritage. A Klingon is never far from his weapon!" he explained to the teacher.

"This is a school, not an armory!" Ms. Talllk loudly explained. "Someone could get hurt by that!"

"That's the idea," he replied.

Ms. Talllk banged her ruler on the podium. "Someone you don't want to hurt will get hurt! It's got five blades. What if you drop it? It'll cut me in two!"

"Oh yeah..."

"Besides, who are you going to fight here? The Romulans aren't here." She pointed to Enabran and Isaiah's desk. "You fought them yesterday."

"Teacher, they're allowed to keep their weapons on them! That's not fair!"

"Their weapons are inside their bodies, not leaning precariously against a desk!" She walked over to the replicator sitting by the chalkboard. "Computer, two suction hooks, sixty-kilogram tolerance." The computer used the replicator to generate two suction hooks using energy and spare mass. She picked up the completed suction hooks. "You can hang it on the wall. Nobody will touch it and if we get invaded again, it'll be right there."

"Thank you, Ms. Talllk," Jidod said as he took the hooks from her and went to the right corner.

"Does anybody else have a WMD they'd like to store before the class starts?" Ms. Talllk. "You know... alien super plagues, nuclear bombs, mutagenic devices, leftover human eggnog... last call..."

"I have one!" Tre'quan bragged. "In ma pants!"

Students giggled. Then one of the Tellarite boys saw an opening. "Yeah, a weapon of mini destruction!"

The class busted out with the loudest "loooooooo!" shame chant of all time. Many students fell out of their seats in uproarious laughter. One girl screamed about needing to pee and ran away. Tre'quan put his head on the desk and pretended to sleep. His pride was fatally wrecked and this moment would haunt him for days.

At break time, Isaiah walked into the bathroom right when Enabran was washing his hands. "Just the Cardassian I was looking for!" he exclaimed.

"We're not going to fight in the bathroom, are we?" Enabran asked.

"No, I have a better idea," Isaiah explained. "Let's train after school."

"You want to train with me? Why?"

"Because we need to get stronger if we're going to be the colony's heroes! The last fight proved it! Don't you want to get stronger, too?"

Enabran scratched his chin in thought. "Well, since you put it that way...OK. We can train after school."

"Don't forget about me!" said Jidod. His voice came from the closest stall.

"Alright," said Isaiah. "You can come along."

"Wonderful...urgh..." Jidod groaned. "You...shall...passsss! Hrruaaa!"

"Don't blow out your colon before training, OK?" Isaiah joked as he left the bathroom.

Hilly wasteland 35 km W of the colony,

after school.

Some high clouds passed in front of the sun, setting a softer tone of light for the training area as the team arrived. Just to the north of them were some tall hills and a plateau with a few native red trees on them. Nothing stirred in the plain, barely grassy spot they were standing in. The Federation's terraforming matrix had not yet made it out this far. Which made it the perfect spot for training.

"And how are we supposed to train without any equipment or trainers?" Enabran asked as he crossed his finger.

Isaiah's jaw dropped. "Oh yeah! I was supposed to come up with a plan at 6th period! But we were so busy!" he exclaimed. "Anyway, we don't know our powers well, so let's practice our power abilities first."

"I seem to know mine well enough," said Jidod with a tinge of pride.

"You literally got your power yesterday," Enabran elaborated.

"And I still knocked you out cold."

"The Pa Wraiths tell me that it may have to more to do with your bat'leth's modifications than anything you used against us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he loudly asked.

"That you were lucky against us because your powers bypass ours."

Jidod was going to be mad but he noticed the truth in his words. "You're probably correct," he began, "but you need to learn how to boost your strength and hit harder if you're going to fight at close range." He looked at Isaiah. "Can you use your powers to make us some things to hit?"

Isaiah knelt down and touched the ground. A sucking sound came from the ground as a sandstone wall about a meter thick and two meters wide and tall rose from the soil. He stood up. "OK try to punch through this."

"It is a wall, Isaiah," Enabran pointed out.

"It's about as hard as your face," he replied.

"Do you wish to be punched through your wall?"

Isaiah walked around to the other side. "No, this is for training. If you can punch through a wall, you can punch through a shield. Something like that. I don't know."

"After you," Enabran pointed to Jidod.

"As the humans say, women and children first."

"That would be Isaiah. He is the youngest."

Isaiah was peeved. "What? Oh, come on!"

Enabran shrugged his shoulders weirdly. "Don't hit us. Hit the wall."

Isaiah turned to face the wall. _So how I do increase my strength enough to punch through the wall? Speed isn't enough. I need mass. I have mass! _{Computer, channel protomatter into my fists!}

{That is unwise,} the computer responded. {Your fists would explode.}

_Hmmm...{_OK, how about put the protomatter within my bones and wrap my fists in a shield, then use the discharge crystals to emit a mass polarization field to make the protomatter into something superdense like Neutronium for a microsecond?}

{Practically nothing in that query is possible,} the computer ragged him. {Have you been paying attention at all in science class?}

{Never mind that. How about we go with the first idea, but coat my protomatter on a special shield to protect my fingers? It will explode outward onto my target.}

{You want an exploding punch, right? OK...} the computer said with a groan, {making exploding punches.}

Isaiah pulled his fist back. "Here goes..." He threw the punch. whap! It impacted harmlessly against the wall. "What? Computer!"

{You need to state when you want to throw this special punch of yours and what power setting you need.}

"Fine, whatever! Computer, power punch! FIVE times regular power! He drew his fist back. "Gooo!" He threw the punch. WHOOOM! His fist went straight through the wall, leaving behind a substantial crater at the impact point. He pulled it out. "Yeah! I knew I could do it!" He raised his arms in excitement.

Right then, Jidod rushed forward. whooom crunch! He punched at full strength, sending Isaiah through the very wall he built. A chunk of it broke off from the impact. Isaiah bounced and rolled along the dry ground. "Ha! I knew I could do it too!"

"That's it!" Isaiah got to his feet and clenched his fists. "Combat training time, then!"

"Now you're speaking my language!" Jidod drew his bat'leth and flexed his muscles. "I'll even take it easy on you."

"I won't, jackass! HEE ARR!' Isaiah ran forward and threw angry punches and flying kicks at Jidod. He focused on swatting away the punches to avoid the deadly impacts. Then the punches came faster. He dove out of the way of a power punch and drew his bat'leth to block and parry. He absorbed power punches with the bat'leth in his left and other attacks with his right. Before he could strike again, Enabran entered the fight.

whhs KABOOM! He power-punched the ground beside the heroes, sending powerful shockwaves through them. They fell backward and tumbled on the ground. "My turn to tag in with this training," he said with a dramatic tone.

"Fine, I'll beat you into the ground first and move back to tall dark and bony later!" Isaiah boasted. He flew into the air and Enabran chased after him. They traded hard punches and kicks in the skies above.

Jidod looked up at their battle. _Wish I could do that. The bat'leth requires both hands to fly._

Enabran backslapped Isaiah, kicked him back slightly, and fired a mighty force blast into his chest. Isaiah fell out of the control at Mach 1. BApooom! He went into the nearby mountain.

"You are correct! Training is great!" Enabran yelled. "I've wanted to do that all week long!"

"Glad to be...of help," Isaiah barely replied. Boosh! His thrust echoed in the cave his body carved as he shot outside. He tackled Enabran, elbowed him in the stomach, grabbed his feet and spun him around so fast Jidod wasn't able to see his body anymore. Then he let go. BAPOOM! Enabran went through another mountain at Mach 1. "Turnaround is fair play!" he shouted from the skies.

"That it is!" KAPOOOWWW! Enabran released an explosive wall of energy, destroying the top of the mountain he was stuck in. He stood with both knees bent and dark red light dancing around his body, making his gray skin look like it was boiling.

Isaiah landed. Enabran floated out of the tunnel, his eyes keenly locked on target. "Are you going to keep fighting? I could use more training," Jidod sarcastically interrupted their fight.

"You're right," said Isaiah with an evil smile on his face. "Let's test the limits of your stupid looking weapon."

"That is fighting words, hu-" NNEEKOOOWWW! A mighty phaser blast came from Isaiah's hands. Jidod's bat'leth blocked the blast but Jidod felt the pressure of the beam.

"Let's see if you can absorb two beams at once!" Enabran inquired with a ruthless tone. He aimed and fired a powerful blast at Jidod's bat'leth.

Jidod's feet dragged slowly against the ground, the beams pushing him backward. He could feel his second stomach tightening. _Can't take much more of this..._ he thought.

"How about one more form of energy?" Enabran made a dark energy ball in his left hand and threw it with spin towards Jidod. Already preoccupied with two beams, he couldn't stop the third attack. BAMBOOM! It exploded, knocking Jidod off his feet, then the two beams sent him flying backward. He bounced hard off the ground and skidded to a stop.

"Unngh," he groaned.

"It looks like we found your weakness," Isaiah said as he closed his palm.

"The mind is willing but the flesh is weak," said Enabran. He crossed his arms.

Jidod slowly got back to his feet, using the bat'leth as a crutch. "Yes, this was a humbling experience." He felt a strange feeling from his bat'leth as well as a strong pressure in his second and third stomachs. "I'm going to take a break and check in with you later." He swung his archaic weapon three times and a wormhole appeared. He walked through it and disappeared.

"Aww, I was having fun blasting him!" Isaiah whined.

"All good things must come to an end some time," Enabran replied. "Back to punching walls?"

"Sure. We'll get stronger by doing!" He knelt and made another wall.

Fifteen minutes later, Jidod returned. There were now five walls with many holes in them in the middle of their training ground. He saw Isaiah punch another hole in a wall. "Walls don't hit back," he said.

"Can I hit you some more?" Isaiah angrily asked.

"Bring it, hoo-man." Jidod spun his bat'leth a few times.

"Here's your challenge; deflect my plasma bombs at Enabran."

"Hey! I didn't sign up for crazy human tennis!" Enabran complained.

"This will help your dodging skills! Computer! Plasma Bomb! Weak power! Slow fire rate!'

Isaiah let loose a slow barrage of plasma bombs from both hands. Jidod gracefully swung the bat'leth around, knocking the first few straight up and more sideways. Explosions went off in the distance. After the first ten, the rest started flying towards Enabran. He floated upward, then dove and flipped to dodge the explosive balls. Isaiah sped up the fire rate a little after twenty shots. Jidod started to feel tired from the constant swinging of the heavy weapon. One shot missed the bat'leth and went screaming past Jidod. KATHOOOM! It exploded at the base of a plateau. rrruummmbbblllee! Isaiah stopped firing as he saw the mesa wall collapse, revealing a cave.

They looked at it.

"Wow... I wonder where that goes," Isaiah asked.

"I bet it goes inside a mountain," said Enabran.

"Cardassians always state the obvious," Jidod groaned. He turned around and flew towards the entrance. Isaiah and Enabran took off after him. They looked at the wide, arched entrance. The sun was not at a great angle to shine much light inside.

"It doesn't look natural," Enabran said while pointing at the top of the arch. "That almost looks like a carving."

"it just looks like embedded stones," Jidod chided him. "But I should ask; why did the Federation build a colony here?"

"The official reason was to study and copy local items for the industrial replicator's databanks. That way, things from here can be replicated with the proper detail." He looked into the pitch black cave. It was tall but only as wide as he and one other boy shoulder to shoulder. "The real reason was to strengthen our claims on the space before the Neutral zone."

"Anybody say anything about previously sentient inhabitants?" Enabran asked.

"Beats me. I thought it was an empty rock as well."

"Let's find out how empty it is," Jidod said and walked inside. Feeling extra confident in their abilities, they walked inside as well.

They followed the long, dark tunnel for a few minutes. Soon enough, it dawned on Enabran that they need to see what's ahead. He held his hand up and a bright light glowed, illuminating the tunnel. "Scared of the dark?" Jidod asked.

"No. Just of tripping secret traps."

"Pssst. This tunnel wall is almost too perfect. There are barely any holes in the walls!"

"You do not see me stopping, do you?" With that, they sped up their single file march into the abyss.

The tunnel released them into a large, wide and very open cavern. As they walked into the open space, Enabran increased the light from his hand. They saw tubular and rectangular structures. The closer they got the clearer they became.

"Wow!" said Isaiah.

"It's an underground city!" Enabran pointed out.

As they got closer they could see the pattern in the structures. The ground floor of each building had an open space while the rest of the building was supported by stilts and thick pylons. Each building was rectangular with arched indented windows, decorative statues on the corners of each roof, and a standing pole with a curved pointed rod running across the middle of the top of the roof's pole. Isaiah figured it looked like an antenna or a church cross. As they walked down the street, they noticed no lights, no signs of life, no running water, and no trash. At the end of the second block, they got bored. Isaiah walked to one of the buildings and found a door.

"Let's see if anyone's home," he asked.

"I don't think this is proper Starfleet protocol," Enabran said.

"Mah... We're not Starfleet. Screw the prime directive." knock knock. No answer at the thick stone door. In fact, Isaiah's computer noted that the structures all appear to be carved from the native rock and that whoever lived here were slightly shorter than the average human. "No. Nobody's home."

"Fine, time to go," said Enabran.

"Why? Are you scared, spoon head?"

"Now I'm bored. And hungry. I'm not sensing anything."

"Neither am I," said Isaiah. "No movement, strange sounds, serial killers with axes."

"Pathetic," Jidod complained. "We entered this cave with intentions to fight a great evil to bring honor and glory to us and the colony. But everyone's dead or gone."

"That was totally you, my Klingon friend," Isaiah chided him.

"Now swing your magic sword and take us to the colony office," said Enabran. "The scientists can do the boring stuff and we'll get the glory anyway."

Jidod stepped back and swung his sword three times, making the triangular shaped portal. "Fine, fine. We'll just make up ghost stories to go along with it."

As they left the city, Enabran sensed something, but he didn't want to miss dinner so he kept walking into the portal. In the distance, hanging off of a ledge, was a bizarre creature. Its features were barely visible in the pitch black environment. It was well suited for the dark. But its eyes and other senses were enough to tell it that something had entered their territory. And it had seen it. Its teeth clanked in anticipation, its mouth liquids drooled a bit at the prospect of food. Large, talkative food, at that...


	8. Our Home Part I

Opening sequence: Same as the previous episode. At the kssst! sound, a monster resembles a standing rat, with a pointy nose and sinister eyes drifts by in a second. Cut to show name, and Isaiah, Jidod, and Enabran flying forwards over the colony, camera following in front and above them, pointing slightly down. Go to commercial.

Inside the lost city,

four hours later

The quiet desolate calm of the city was broken again by the sound of transport signals. A team of five Federation scientists appeared after the beams dissipated. Their head and hand lamps automatically switched on, bringing even more light to the darkness. They whipped out their tricorders and other scientific instruments and began their survey, starting at the spot in the city that the boys said they last explored.

"Amazing. An entire lost city, buried beneath our eyes," said Jill, a young scientist with a Midwest American accent. She waved her scanner around to collect air readings.

"And that's why we're here, Jill," said Jake, a young scientist with a British accent. He knelt down and collected some dirt samples in a tube.

"Hmm, I wonder if we can get the kids to punch through some more mountains? They might hit another city, ya hear?" said Julian, an older scientist with a Martian accent. He walked to the ancient fountain to collect some water samples, but it was bone dry. He gave up and scanned the ornate central sculpture which had openings for water to pour out of. The sculpture resembled seaweed being held up, due to its somewhat flat structure and short curved branches extending outwards.

"Probably a bad idea," said Jones, the lead scientist with a Spanish accent. He looked at the door the boys knocked on. "They are not known for their subtle touch."

"I am excited that we get to do some real exploration," said Jee-Jee, a scientist from Andoria with a deep strong voice. He set his tricorder to look for signs of animal life. "Other than Romulans and Cardassians, there hasn't been a lot of exploration lately. This planet is too dead to be as alive as it should be."

"Would they have placed the Genesis device here if Starfleet knew there was a former colony here?" Jones asked his team as they walked down the long-vacant street.

"I would assume not," said Jee-Jee.

The further they entered the abandoned city, the more they found signs of conflict. Julian found dried blood on the wall. Jones found large scratches resembling claws on more than a few doors. Julian noticed that there were no support structures or columns for the roof of the cave anywhere.

"It's almost like whoever came here carved a hole in a mountain and dropped it here to cover up the city," Jill continued her explanation. "What kind of people would have the power to do that?"

"The kind that had something to hide," said Jones. "The kind that had something they wanted buried."

Jill's flashlight made something glitter and she walked over to see what was so shiny. As she got closer, it became clear. "I found something!" The team ran over to her and found what she saw. "It's their equipment." They saw piles of stuff, from industrial drilling equipment to boxy things with cables sticking out of them.

"It looks like they were drilling for something," said Jee-Jee. He scanned the equipment with his tricorder. After seeing that it was safe, he took a towel and wiped off some dust. The outer casing of the large boxy thing was transparent. He saw the elegance of the interior of the boxy things and came to a conclusion. "This thing here was a control system for the large drilling system. Also, this species seemed to value how the interior hardware looked; they also seemed to use a lot of gears."

"Steampunk aliens?" asked Jill.

"Hey, first time for anything, ya think?" said Julian.

"I think I found what happened to our steampunk aliens," said Jones. "This way."

The team followed his voice to a spot just a bit past the large clear drills and the other industrial equipment. They saw Jones crouched behind a pile of knocked over metal walls. When they got behind him, they saw what he was looking at.

It was a mass grave. The skeletons were piled five bodies deep and there were no intact bodies everywhere. Jill and Jee-Jee struggled to hold back vomit. The skulls had two large ridges point upwards from the dorsal side. They also had pointy protrusions that made them think of Vulcan ears. Scraps of thin clothing were scattered over some of the bones.

"Whoever died here, did not die well, ya," said Julian.

"Ya think? Hurggh." Jee-Jee responded and quickly covered his mouth before more bile could rise.

"Let's mark this site for further forensic study," said Jones, "and inform Starfleet security of a potential threat." He stood up. "On to the next area." The crew agreed with him and they walked along the edge of the cave wall, looking for other signs of life.

Soon enough they found them when their scanners detected motion a scant 150 meters away. Moving carefully and quietly, they spotted a creature. A bipedal creature about 1.4 meters from tail to snout, about a quarter of a meter tall from paw to apex of the back, it reminded Julian of a cross between a rat and an aardvark. The team dimmed their lights and hid behind some walls on both sides of the road. They watched the creature scurry from a large hole in the wall and take cover behind solid benches near what was once a green space twenty meters from the team.

"Have you seen one of those on this planet?" Jill whispered to Julian.

"Can't say I have," Julian whispered back.

"Do you want to walk up to it and try to pet it?"

"Ha. I've seen _Prometheus_." Julian stifled a laugh and continued. "We are actual scientists, not snack samplers for scientist-eating alien lifeforms, ya?"

"I'm detecting another life form," Jee-Jee whispered. He poked his head up and aimed his tricorder to the left. "It appears to be a wat-wat. They tend to live on the outskirts of the colony."

"This one must've walked in from the cave entrance," Jones speculated.

The wat-wat, a furry mammal with short pointed ears similar in size and shape to a rabbit, darted in and on top of the various benches and surfaces before entering the green space. It paused, its head darting left and right in search of something. The creature the team tracked earlier sensed the wat-wat and lept onto the raised former green space. The wat-wat made a hissing sound as it backed up. The creature bared its teeth briefly. The wat-wat turned around and began to run. wak wak! Whip-like ropes shot from the sides of the creature as its tail retracted into its hind region, and wrapped around the wat-wat's legs. It made a screeching sound as the creature dragged it closer and closer to its mouth. It let out a cute but meaningless scream as the creature's jaw expanded open vertically. It snapped shut and tore the cute wat-wat's head off.

Jill knelt down under Julian and leaned against the wall. "Well, that was sufficiently horrifying," she whispered.

"Isn't nature grand?" rhetorically asked Julian. "I mean-"

RAAGH! RAAGH! Two large creatures climbed from the roof of the building they were leaning against and screamed as they pounced on Jill and Julian. The humans barely let out a scream as the jagged predators sliced through their soft flesh. Jee-Jee heard their slicing noises and turned his light on. That was when the survivors saw what really lived in the cave. These slimy creatures had flexible gray colored plating up and down their midsections, two arms with a long sharp fang about the size and sharpness of a katana extending down, a tubular body like a snake with four long legs about a foot apart, and a set of jaws with exterior and interior rows of incisors like a leech. They barely glanced at the light before they tore into Julian and Jill.

"AAIIEEE!" Jake screamed. He dropped his tricorder. He turned and ran but stopped after the first step when he heard sounds nearby. He waved his palm light around. More of those large creatures had shown up.

"S****! We're surrounded!"

"But Jill and Julian!" Jee-jee yelled.

"We're unarmed! They're dead anyway!" he grabbed his communicator and dialed the colony. "Emergency transport! Three at my signal!" Jones yelled. The creatures dove at the remaining science team but their claws found no purchase as the transport beam snatched the team away. They had made first contact, and the contacted had found them...delicious.


	9. Our Home Part II

Opening sequence the same as Ep 8, but before the 'ksst!' sound, a half-transparent photo of Genji floats backward across the screen. She is holding a phaser rifle and aiming towards the right. The main characters do their flyover of the colony, and cut to commercial.

Colony planning room, town government office,

30 minutes later.

Deep within the bowels of the ever-expanding bureaucratic colony management office, but still, on the first floor, the science team survivors and colony leaders gathered around a large table. The mayor and the Cardassian representative were the last to arrive and they hurriedly took their seats.

"So what did I miss?" asked the mayor. His assistant went around the room passing out water bottles, first to the mayor and then the science team.

The science team leader pressed a few buttons on his console. A map of the area around the lost city appeared on the screen. "We encountered a hostile life form in the depths of the lost city the hero team found during their training," Jones explained. He zoomed in on the mountain holding the lost city. "We transported inside and found the previous inhabitants. They were in a massive bone pile, likely put there by the creatures."

"They ate Officers Jill Jorenson and Julian Jyles," Jake explained. It was..." he looked away from the screen. "Then they came after us."

"We prepared this report to recommend three options," Jee-Jee the Andorian started his explanation as he looked at the mayor and the other leaders. "Option 1; we take the shuttle and torpedo the entrance. The cave-in should prevent them from getting out but we would lose access to the lost city. Option 2: We go in with a security team and capture a creature, find its weaknesses and chase it out of the city or eradicate the species. Option 3-"

"Uh, hate to interrupt," the mayor asked. "But what are the green dots moving away from the cave entrance?"

"Green what-?" Jones replied, then looked down at the map. The other leaders did the same thing. He didn't realize it was a live satellite view of the area. The life-sign detector on the satellite was detecting a lot of movement outside the cave. A long line of small, medium and a few larger sized creatures trailed out of the cave entrance in an almost single-file line. One of the colony leaders wished she could get the kindergarteners to move in such an organized fashion. "Oh boy..."

"They're heading straight for the colony!" the Cardassian leader exclaimed.

"How do you know that?" asked Jake,

"Computer, zoom out to include the colony in the map view." The map zoomed out and the line of hungry creatures was pointed towards the colony in the northeastern corner. "They are evil creatures with a craving for fresh meat."

"And we are their all-you-can-eat buffet." The mayor correctly noted. "But I don't understand how they knew where we were?"

"Alien mind control?" the Klingon offered.

"No... our heroes flight path," Smithers said. "They're following the scents from the team when they flew into the cave."  
"It matters not why!" The Klingon leader, a man with no forehead ridges and an awesomely long mustache, stood up. "We must assume they wish to die before our blades and rifles tonight!"

"Aaannnddd...there's option 4," Jones replied. "We can't run and Starfleet's not going to arrive in time at their current pace. We have to fight."

"This is where I come in," said the security chief, a no-nonsense woman with a few scars on her face from the Romulan attack that haven't quite gone away. She stood up as well. "Computer, zoom in on our colony, southwest quadrant, 300meter view." The view changed to focus on a bottleneck pass that led to the valley where the colony was. "We set up a firing line here with our strongest men."

"It will be a glorious day to fight and die!" the Klingon leader boasted. But then he looked down and sighed. "But we don't have enough weapons."

The security chief patted him on the back. "Welcome to the modern Federation. We have four industrial replicators here now." She looked at the mayor. "You're up, boss. Sound the alarm."

The mayor sighed and said "So much for an easy retirement post." He looked at Smithers. "Alarm #2, right away."

Genji was about to dig into her spicy ramen with shrimp when a loud sound bellowed through the house. It went from a deep drone to a sharp whine and scream in mere seconds. Genji dropped her chopsticks. "Just when I was about to eat..." she griped.

"Who we fightin' now? The Tholians?" her grandmother asked as she swallowed a homemade dumpling.

"All able-bodied adults are required to report to the industrial replicators," the Mayor said through the intercom.

"Everyone fights! No one quits!" the Klingon leader shouted, which interrupted the mayor.

"Let me do my job damnit!" the mayor yelled at the Klingon. "Now go stand by the replicator and give her all she's got! Oh god, the mike is still on." A short pause but people could hear Smithers whisper to him. Then the mayor replied. "Look, everyone, don't panic. Stay strong, and we will survive this. We survived the Romulans, we can survive this too."

Genji got up. "See you in a few hours, Grandma! I have to fight again!" She gave her a kiss on the forehead and she headed for the door.

Oregon family house,

20 minutes to battle.

"Can you say that again without as many science words in the sentence?" Isaiah asked.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and spoke. "I want you and your friends to find the nearest nest and blow it up and the city as well. Can you do that?" He looked at him sternly. "You've been blowing things up all week. This shouldn't be that hard for you."

"Yeah but it's an alien city full of swarming man-eating monsters," Isaiah complained. "We didn't even see a nest when we went there. How am I supposed to find it?"

Realizing his son had a valid point, he replied "Take your crazy friends with you. They'll provide cover while you prepare the blast."

Isaiah pouted by twisting around like an angry child. "But they're not my friends! They're more like rivals!"

"I was going to say superiors," Jidod said as the door slid open, "but rivals will do."

"We will gladly come to the colony's aid and help your son complete the mission, Mr. and Mrs. Oregon," Enabran said as he walked inside. "Provided you provide us with more of those delicious homemade cookies."

"You really like them?" Mrs. Oregon asked.

"The Pa Wraiths say they're best baked goods they've had this eon."

"You fed my cookies to evil god aliens? Not sure how I feel about that...Anyway, take my lazy son and go be heroes."

"Owww!" Jidod grabbed Isaiah's ear and dragged the obstructive child outside while Enabran followed.

At one of the industrial replicators, a problem surfaced. Mr. Savok, a Vulcan engineer, explained the problem to the security chief and mayor. "This is the final batch of phaser rifles the replicator can make."

"There are only twelve rifles here. Why is that?" the security chief asked.

"The energy demands to make discharge crystals are too high and we have not collected enough suitable mass to offset the energy demands."

"What'd he say?"

Mr. Savok remained calm. "In a manner of speaking, we cannot make more because we don't have the energy for it."

"Well, we need more weapons," the security chief replied.

"Might I make a suggestion?" an uncomfortable pause between the three of them set in. The Vulcan soon tired of waiting for his queue and explained further. "Perhaps we should make weapons that are less technically difficult to generate."

"Old-style weapons?" asked the mayor.

The security chief looked less forlorn. "Alright. Queue up a batch of lower tier weapons and explosive grenades. We weren't planning on winning this pretty anyway."

The batches complete, the able-bodied colonists lined up by the entrance to the #1 replicator. Tables loaded with projectile weapons, Klingon blades and grenades lined the pathway. "Everyone grab a weapon, ammo clip if you need it, and a grenade," one of the security officers yelled. "Check the number on the clip to match the number of the gun. These projectile weapons are not plug & play!" He pointed to the path leading away from the replicators, and towards the southwestern canyon. "And get down to the barricades! Double time!"

Many of the civilians, unfamiliar with weapons handling, stumbled with the loading process on the projectile weapons. A stray shot went off here and there. A security officer barked "Don't put your grubby fingers on the triggers until you are ready to kill! IS THAT CLEAR?!" He got in the face of a middle-aged woman who fired an errant bullet into the ground.

"Sir! Sorry sir!" the woman replied and hurried off.

(music suggestion: Aliens 1984, soldiers arming for drop scene)

When Genji got to the canyon, she saw the Starfleet officers setting up firing lines with sandbags. The path away from the colony was sloped a bit downward and lined with thick granite rock on both sides. At the first firing line were Klingons, armed mainly with bat'leth. At the second line stood most of the Federation and Cardassians experienced fighters. It's the line she expected to be sent to. At the third line stood most of the civilians. They warily clutched their weapons or leaned against the sandbags. A few stood as still as bricks, fear almost totally paralyzing them. Genji heard a transport beam and looked to her left. She saw men mounting an older model weapon to a tripod. This weapon had four long barrels attached around a central drum with a big gray square on the back with two handles hanging on it. She was watching the men attach a seemingly endless band of bullets to it when she was interrupted by Mr. Smithers.

"Ms. Quan!" He said loudly to get her attention over the din of activity. She looked at him. "Are you a good shot?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe? I don't know. I've only fought in one battle."

"That's good enough for me." He wrote something on his pad and pointed to the left. "Take one of those long rifles and set up over there. You'll be one of our snipers."

"Those guns look hecka heavy, Mr. Smithers."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Good thing they come with tripods, too." He pointed at one of the rifles. "We didn't have time to print a lot of instructions out. But they're our ancestor's weapons. How hard can such primitive things be to use?" He left to help other arrivals find their proper place.

Genji looked at the heavy metal weapon she was assigned to. Black from tip to butt, with a scope attached to the top and more than a few levers and knobs, in her opinion. She found the magazine pile and picked up a magazine. _So, this is what bullets look like_? she wondered. She took another inquisitive look at the rifle and figured where the magazine went. It popped in with a click that sounded so satisfying. _Ohhoho, _she thought. _I'm ready to do some damage_!

Her thoughts ceased when a shout echoed in their canyon. "They're close! Ready positions!" The Klingons ducked under their sandbags. The security team barked instructions at the new soldiers and helped them ready their weapons. Genji and the other sniper team members knelt beside their weapons and took aim. One of them walked behind Genji and looked at her weapon in confusion. "Pull the lever on right side back and forward, Genji," she ordered. Genji pulled her weapon's lever back and forward. It made another satisfying sound. "And press the butt against your shoulder. Then look down the scope."

"Here they come!" The security chief shouted. CLACK! A bright light began to shine on the front of the canyon. The first wave of creatures was still a half kilometer from the firing lines but their beady eyes glowed red in the glow of the spotlight. "Sniper team! Fire!"

Genji took aim at the first creature to cross into the canyon. Her comrades fired their phaser rifles first and this made her panic fire as well. Three of the menacing creatures fell from their withering fire. The others pressed on, leaping over their fallen. Genji fired again at another, missed that one and hit another behind it. Soon the front of the canyon was loaded with fallen and charging cave creatures.

"Second and third lines! Fire!" A large group of men and women stood up and let loose, all their weapons fire mixing with Genji's. More creatures fell. Then the Gatling gun opened up with its bbrrrttt! rapid fire, drowning out the other noises. Streams of automatic and phaser fire lit up the battlefield. Yet the creatures swarmed in. The fear, already pretty high, began to swell in the colony. Genji thought of her family and friends as she fired again and again.

Colony entrance,

The team hovered over the entrance as the trail of hungry vicious creatures leaving the cave finally trickled out. The entrance itself was much wider and taller than when the team left earlier in the day. They also noticed a few very large footprints in the ground, lit up by the bright moon overhead.

Isaiah, followed by his team of Enabran and Jidod, hovered down to the edge of the entrance. Enabran made his hand glow brightly. "Coast is clear," said Isaiah. And they flew inside.

Once in the city, they flew above the tall buildings and spiral columns and searched furtively for a nest. Finding no nest around the front of the city, they flew slowly into the city. They soon discovered the pile of bones that the science team found earlier.

"Damn. They were hungry," said Isaiah.

"Their nest should be close by," said Jidod. "I can almost smell them."

"Almost?" asked Enabran with a raised eyebrow.

"The air in here is quite stale. Even a human hunting dog would have trouble finding it."

"There's gotta be another way to-" Isaiah was interrupted by a grunting sound in the distance. The team turned around. Four of the alien creatures with jagged sharp jawlines approached them from their left. Four rapid-fire energy beams from Isaiah dropped them quickly. Their smoldering bodies hit the ground a few meters from them. "Wow that was close!" he said.

"This way, then," said Enabran. He slowly hovered in the direction the creatures came from. As they went, the light from his hands illuminated more of the city. More of the creatures appeared in their sight, crawling around the walls of the cave and the city.

"Looks like we're going in the right direction," said Isaiah. He saw something further ahead when one of the creatures leaped at him from one of the rooftops. An outstretched claw missed him by a meter. "Whoa! OK. They don't like us."

"Was the claw swinging for your throat the first clue?" Enabran asked.

"Heh. Like most predators, they have developed a taste for human flesh," Jidod continued.

"Yeah, yeah yeah. We're the delicious red meat of the universe. Ah!" He noticed a weird bluish glow in the distance, coming from the far edge of the wall. "It's the nest! It's gotta be!"

"Now watch it be an old power source or some algae," Enabran scoffed.

"I don't see you helping WHAO!" Isaiah spun around and dodged a creature that jumped at him from the ceiling. "Yeah, go faster!" Isaiah sped up in the direction of the glow. The light source became clear, taking on the form of orbs a meter in diameter. These were basketballs you would never want to dunk. He took aim with his hand. WHAMP! A boulder, thrown from below by a large creature, slammed into his body and knocked him to the ceiling. "HURGH!" he groaned as he smashed into the ceiling.

"Finally, a fight!" Jidod roared as he dived. He swung his bat'leth down like an ax, slicing through the 4 legged and 4 armed creature like a hot knife through butter. Enabran stayed in the air and pointed his hands like guns. sprow!sprow! Hot energy from the Pa Wraiths cut down every creature they hit. He almost hit Isaiah's body as it fell from the ceiling and smacked into the flat roof of an abandoned building.

"ugh!" Isaiah groaned as he stood up and shook his head.

"So nice of you to... join us!" Jidod said, stopping mid-sentence to block and strike down one of the smaller creatures attacking him in the street below. He spun around like a dancer, his bat'leth using the added momentum to slice through another of the creatures. But more were coming.

"Thanks for the distraction!" Isaiah said. He ran to the edge of the roof and leaped. His flight mode kicked in and he headed for the nest. Terrifying creatures leaped at him. He swatted away two with a mighty swing of his arm then got yanked down by a strong pull from his leg.

He kicked the creature's claw from his leg as he fell, then rolled like a parkour expert on landing. He got to his feet from the roll and realized he was at the foot of the nest. Creatures, drooling with saliva charged at him. _Fight or dodge, fight or dodge... dodge! _He took off, getting out of the way of the horde. He aimed and fired plasma beams at them, scorching many.

"Isaiah! You have to hurry!" said Mr. Smithers on the communicator. Heavy gunfire and people screaming made it hard to hear him. "We're getting overwhelmed here!"

"I'm at the nest! Call you back!" Isaiah quickly responded as he put his communicator away and returned to the fray.

Genji fired again and ducked as another boulder flew past her head. _Damn, last shot!_ she thought as she crawled to the next rifle. A friend of Isaiah's father laid on the ground next to the sniper rifle. She didn't have time to check if he were alive or dead, just time to grab the rifle. She looked down at the battlefield. An almost endless stream of creatures climbed over the stacks of their dead at the sandbags. Klingon and Cardassian warriors fought tooth and blade at the very front line, but many of their number had fallen already. She saw a large creature grab one of the Cardassians with its tentacles and pulled the woman towards its mouth. She struggled against the creature's grip. Genji quickly aimed and fired a shot through the creature's skull. The woman shrugged off the dead creature's tentacles. Genji aimed up at the top of the four-meter tall corpse pile when thoom! Two giant creatures smashed through the pile. Dead, mangled alien body parts flew at the defenders, knocking many out and off their feet. Genji was not spared this fate as her new rifle was knocked from her hands by a spinning forearm.

Their defenses collapsed, she backed up as one of the two large boulder-throwing creatures jumped over to the front of her line. It stared at her hateful eyes. She fell back on her butt and crawled back as the creature raised its fist. She closed her eyes in fear. _This is it! Sorry, grandma! _But the blow never came, as the creature backed up and ran away, along with the other living creatures. Genji opened her eyes to the sight of retreating creatures. _Whaaat?_

"Yeah, you better run ya bastards!" shouted the mayor as he approached from the REMF rear command tent. "Who says the Federation doesn't know how to fight?!"

"Why are they fleeing?" Genji asked as she got to her feet.

Mr. Smithers stepped by her and helped her up. "I believe Isaiah's team has made it to the nest." He pointed to the exit of the canyon. "They are rushing back to protect their offspring."

Cries for a medic overwhelmed the battlefield, almost distracting them. Mr. Smithers quickly said "Call them and tell them to keep them busy for a little longer," and he ran back to the command tent.

"OK! I'll keep fighting!" was Isaiah's response to her request. He put his communicator back and flew at a large creature's chest. He shoved the creature into another creature and another, then pushed down, making a pile of eight creatures. {Replicator mode; super sword} he ordered his computer. A bright yellow light poured from his hand, encircled the creatures, and converted them into a black-bladed sword with a clothlike wrap around the handle. He took hold of the sword and sliced away at creature after creature.

Enabran flew over and hovered above Isaiah as he fought on the ground. He continued his shooting spree of the creatures while he chided Isaiah. "Are you trying to keep up with Jidod?" he asked. He was about to say something else when whomp! A large creature with a huge long jaw leaped and tackled Enabran with his jaw. He screamed as he hit the pavement but the impact knocked him free of the creature's jaw. He rolled to the side and shot the creature ten times rapidly. Its fried corpse hit the pavement. Enabran felt blood coming from his wound. _This is not good. _"How much more time do you need?" he asked.

Isaiah ran past him, slashing at the charging creatures. "Soon!" A tentacle swatted away his sword. Jidod ran by and sliced the tentacle off.

"Hurry up and find that nest!" Jidod shouted. He spun his blade a few times to recharge, then continued his attack.

Isaiah picked up his sword and ran to Enabran's left flank, cutting down another two creatures with it. Enabran kept firing while Jidod ran to his right side. The creatures stopped coming, instead forming a thick line of creatures to block their path. The team stopped fighting and considered their options. "We just need a little more time!"

"To do what? Pad your score?" Jidod asked.

"No, to get the rest of the creatures here."

"Go check if that's the main nest. We'll occupy them here," Enabran suggested as he took aim. Isaiah took off, flying for the nest.

"What? Are you going to let him be the hero again?" Jidod insinuated as he spun his blade then held it with both hands.

"There is no 'i' in team, my comrade,"

"No 'g' as in 'glory' either, Cardassian gray skin."

"There will be plenty of glory for all of us to share."

Isaiah flew over the main part of the nest. Eggs left and right were hatching. He noticed there were great piles of them on the ground. Following them up the wall, he noticed they were coming from tunnels leading inside. And there were a lot of tunnels. He saw a creature leap and fall a meter from his position. _Forbort...nardcrap... There's so many of them. What other choice do I have_? He flew back to his comrades and looked at the infested city. He threw his sword down, cutting through a charging creature. Then he landed in front of his friends as they were attacked from the sides.

"The nest runs deep into the mountain!" he shouted. "I've got to do it now!"

"Wait for us to run!" Enabran shouted.

"NO TIME!" He raised his hands. "Computer! Antimatter discharge, all crystals! 20 megaton blast!"

{That would threaten the colony,} the computer said.

"Fine, pick a smaller number that destroys the mountain! Do it now!"

"You fool!" shouted Enabran. He raised his hands and pointed them at Isaiah. Jidod ran back to Enabran's left side and stabbed his bat'leth through the ground, then gripped it and Enabran's left shoulder tightly to brace for a mighty impact.

The creatures saw the crystals on Isaiah's body light up so bright they shone through his clothing. They rushed forwards to snuff it out along with his life. Suddenly, there was a blinding light, then a mighty roar. Then darkness and silence.

Genji helped a wounded Cardassian man get to his feet when the ground shook violently. "Planetquake!" screamed a nearby scientist. They struggled to stay on their feet until the seismic wave stopped. "Look over there!"

Genji looked in the same direction as everyone else. A bright light and fireball rose into the clouds from the direction of the lost city. It looked both frightening and insanely beautiful at the same time to her. _This power... this is our power_, thought Genji. _It's wonderful..._ "They did it!" she shouted, dropping the Cardassian man leaning on her shoulder, to cheer. "They destroyed the nest! Our heroes have won!"

"Ooggg," the fallen Cardassian man groaned in pain.

Cheers broke out over the battlefield. In the command tent, they got to their feet and looked at the destruction on the satellite view. They started cheering as well. "My plan-" the mayor started. Every scientist and official in the tent stopped cheering and looked at him with anger in their eyes. "-our plan," the mayor cringed, "was a success!" He patted Mr. Smithers on the back. "That'll teach these critters what happens when you mess with New Busan!"

"That's my boy!" said Mr. Oregon. He looked at the image. The smoke had cleared and there was now a massive crater where once stood a giant plateau. "Only my son could make a mess this amazing!" Two security guards patted him on the back.

"We're not done yet!" shouted the security chief. "I doubt all the creatures returned to the nest! " She pointed to three of the guards. "Gor-gor, Manny, and Stovokor, you're with me! Reload and take some night vision rigs!" The Bzzit Khast, human, and Klingon immediately followed her commands. "We're going hunting!"

The black shield vanished and Jidod raised his weapon. The team was floating in the air, a massive, deep crater being all that remained of the lost city. Isaiah was glowing red, but the heat and glow rapidly faded. He lowered his arms and looked down. "Would'ya look at that?" he asked.

"You almost killed us!" Jidod shouted.

"You say that like it's my problem," Isaiah said without turning around.

Enabran scanned the crater with help from the Pa Wraiths. "I do not see any more of the creatures. I highly doubt they would have survived."

"You should've seen it! It was like standing on a solar flare!"

"Oh trust me, we saw enough before we almost went TOTALLY BLIND!"

"Yes, human. Wait for us to get clear before you do that again."

Isaiah turned to his detractors and said, "Fine fine. Let's go home."

Oregon family house, living room,

a half hour later.

The team sat on chairs as Isaiah's mother ran the medical tricorder around them. She turned it off. "No radiation poisoning. You boys came out of it OK according to this," she said.

"That's a relief," said Isaiah.

Jidod crossed his arms. "And the Starfleet said this would be a relatively safe and boring colony."

"Speaking of which," Mr. Oregon began to ask, "Was the entire city covered by the mountain?"

"Yes. Other than the tunnel, I didn't see another way in," Isaiah replied.

"That tells me it used to be above ground." He walked around the room and muttered, before stopping. He looked upwards. "Someone must have buried the city, either to hide it from the creatures or to seal off the creatures."

"That probably explains the rarity of wildlife on this planet. These creatures must be eating them all." She also walked around the room and stopped by the empowering pod. "They must have eaten all the predators."

"That is OK, Mrs. Oregon," Jidod said as he stood up. "You are the predators now."

"I suppose that is one way of looking at things now," said Mr. Oregon. "We will have to take on more tasks than the original genesis project called for. Like hunting and population management."

Jidod lifted his bat'leth from the table. "As long as everyone remembers that I'm the apex predator here."

Isaiah stood up. "Nardcrap!"

"Watch the language!" said Mrs. Oregon.

"I'm the one that blew up the goddamn nest!"

"You're more like a blunt instrument, like a hammer to a nail!" Jidod stood tall and looked down at him with a sick grin. "Whereas I did the bulk of the killing."

Isaiah raised his fist. "I can hammer you down to bedrock!"

"Anywhere, anytime."

"BOYS! NOT IN THE LAB!" Mr. Oregon shouted. "If you have to fight, do it in the blast zone!"

"You're right, Mr. Oregon," Enabran said. He stood up and made his eyes glow red with power, then turned to face the squabbling boys. "It's late at night. You'll wake up the neighbors. And then I'll have to stomp you both."

"That's it!" Mrs. Oregon said, pointing at the door. "It's bedtime! Go home, you two!"

"But Mommm!" said Isaiah as he backed up.

"No buts! It's a school night."

Enabran and Jidod walked for the door. "See you next crisis, Oregon family," said Enabran with a cheery tone.

Jidod laughed and said "I am sure it will be soon enough. Later, prey." He swung the bat'leth to stick to his back and winked at Isaiah.

"I'll get you after class tomorrow!" Isaiah shouted at Jidod as he stepped outside.

"That's better, son," said Mr. Oregon. He pointed at the pod. "Now lay down in the pod. We have to refresh the antimatter in your crystals."

(music suggestion, DBZ closing theme, 0:30)

Isaiah scoffed for a moment then got in. This was a necessary procedure, like leaving massive craters around the planet. Thoughts of his growing power and the taunts of his teammates filled his mind while his parents went to work on his crystal implants. Will he need to call upon his vast power yet again? Tune in next time on... Star Trek: Colony.


	10. Choices

Opening sequence: Same as last episode, but at the black background, the symbol of the Obsidian Order drifts down from the top at the Kzzst! sound effect. During the overflight sequence, Enabran is in the middle with the 5 dancing Pa Wraiths on his shoulders and back. Cut to commercial.

Colony town hall, Mayor's office,

one week after the battle.

The mayor looked over the day's reports as he snacked on some mandu dumplings. The computer updates told him that there were no more Species 1x cave creature sightings around the colony, that the last wounded was leaving the hospital, all the funerals were finished and that the last vestiges of the battle had been cleaned up. He ate the last of his crunchy dumplings. "Finally, the peaceful days are back," he muttered to himself.

"Sir, we got a transmission for you," one of the town employees said on the intercom, "from a Cardassian ship in orbit."

"Oh."

"They want to land and talk to the Ize family."

"That's the kid with the orb of evil or whatever?" he asked.

"Yeah… I'm pretty sure."

_Great, just when I had a moment's peace! _The mayor thought as he bit his lip. "Just my damn luck."

"They just asked about all the craters," the employee said.

"Tell 'em this world's a fixer-upper!"

Meeting room,

One hour later.

The mayor sat at the corner of the table while the Tain family sat at the side facing the wall. The mayor could tell they were nervous.

"The Cardassian Union is all the way on the other side of Federation space. What do they want with your family?" the mayor asked.

Mrs. Ize uncrossed her arms. "Isn't it obvious? They want this scary thing," she said while pointing at the box containing the Pa Wraith orb.

"I must say that I do not know much about it," the mayor explained. "But wouldn't it be safer in the hands of your people?"

The door swung open. Three Cardassians in gunmetal black exoskeletal armor walked in. The Cardassian female spoke first. "That is what we have assessed, Mister Mayor."

The mayor stood up and offered a hand to shake. "You must be-"

"Dal. Tash." Mrs. Ize said first.

"You know of me?" Dal Tash asked as she ignored the hand of the mayor and sat down on the other side of the table. Her entourage stood by both sides of the door.

"Of course I do. You were there when we got exiled from Bajor."

"Ah, that day. Perhaps you should have not interfered in our affairs."

"I didn't know she was a spy!" Nort spoke up, a tear welling in her eye. "She was sick. I gave her some medicine and food. That's all!"

"Hush, son!"

"Ah, that unfortunate incident," said Dal Tash. She wrinkled her nose at the suggestion. "I know our laws can be strict at times."

"None of you gave my brother a break," Enabran said. "It's not like spies wear uniforms."

"Hush, son!"

Dal Tash saw her opening. "I'm willing to drop the exile if you return home with us with the Bajoran artifact. I take it your alliance with the spies led to your procurement of this artifact?"

"Actually, my youngest bought it at a Bajoran garage sale," said Mrs. Ize. "But why do you want it?"

"You know why."

"No, I don't. News from Bajor doesn't make it out here. Enlighten me."

The air got noticeably tense. Dal Tash knew her cards had to go on the table. "We know of the artifact's relation to the Pa Wraiths. We want to use it to frighten the people and conquer Bajor."

"That's all you can think about? Using it as a weapon?" Mrs. Ize chided him.

Dal Tash raised her eyebrows. "Precisely. The Federation has no qualms about using it as a weapon. Oh, we know about your oldest son's activities wielding the Pa Wraith's power."

Mrs. Ize snarled. Enabran crossed his arms. "The Obsidian Order has spies even here?" he asked.

"We have spies everywhere."

"Okay, my guests," the mayor spoke up. "I feel it is my duty to point out that the Ize family has applied for Federation citizenship. It is up to them whether to return with you."

Dal Tash looked at the mayor. "Thank you for doing your duty, Mr. Mayor." She looked back at the family. "It is my duty to inform you that your extended family on Cardassia Prime could face sanction for your decision as well."

Mrs. Ize gasped. "Not uncle Foro!" the youngest said.

"This is getting too intense," said the mayor. "I'm going to let you resolve this without me stepping on anyone's toes." He stood up and left the room.

Enabran heard voices, lower than a whisper. They were coming from the box. {You've heard the conversation. What should we do?} he asked them while Dal Tash threatened them.

Mrs. Ize and Dal Tash argued with each other, but he ignored them. So did the Pa Wraiths. The tallest Pa Wraith spoke first. {Are you asking us for a favor?} It asked.

{I would be in your debt for this,} said Enabran.

{This might be a freebie,} said the female Pa Wraith voice. {We have no desire to return to Bajor at this time.}

{What do you want me to do?} he asked her.

{Give her the box, of course.}

{A brilliant strategy. One that makes perfect sense in context.} Enabran tried to hold back the annoyment from his face. But his mother elbowed him softly anyway.

{Quit complaining and do it.}

Enabran interrupted his mother and held up the box. "This is what you wanted, right?" he asked her. "Just take it and go."

"Son? What are you thinking?" his mother asked.

Dal Tash replied, "He's thinking of doing the right thing, of course." She touched the box. A faint red light flowed up her hands. Her mind soon filled with nightmarish images from the Pa Wraiths. Images of Cardassians burning in a molten lake of fire. A chorus of dark voices spoke up, saying "I will swallow your soul and s*** out every good thing about you, Cardassian scum." She dropped the box and dry heaved. Her guards ran over to her.

"We, we should go. Now!" said Dal Tash.

"But what about-" the guard asked but was interrupted.

"NOW!" She stood up and ran for the door, her guards in rapid tow.

"That went...well…" Mrs. Ize said.

"She wanted the box. The box did not want her," Enabran replied.

The Mayor rushed in and said "Now what was all that about? I swear she almost turned pink."

Enabran stood up. "In human words, quote 'that is a 'she' problem, not a 'me' problem'," and picked up the box.

Enabran's brother stood up. "You should blow up their ship. They're evil and they'll be back."

Enabran shook his head. "There's no need. They'll never want the box again." An evil smile crossed his face. The mayor backed up and Enabran's mom shook her head in mild disgust.

On the ship, Dal Tash entered her darkly lit quarters. She started up the computer and sent a secret message to the Obsidian Order. Mission failed. Pa Wraith Orb is too dangerous to control or transport. Pa Wraiths hostile to our interests but Ize family is too far away and preoccupied to affect ours. RTB. Then she climbed into her bed and threw the covers over her head, shivering in abject terror. For she thought she knew evil; today, evil knew her and broke her.


	11. What are they? part 1

Opening credits: Same as episode 8, but with the dark background foreshadowing scene. The kzzst! sound begins and an outline of a being floats across. There are many wires looping around the head and right arm of the being's outline. Then, the final scene is a glowing red Isaiah floating above the crater he made in ep 9 with the show title above his head. He has a smug yet scary smile.

Beta Quadrant deep space, 45 light years from New Busan.

The week after Jidod gained the Kahless Bat'leth.

A space probe, positioned here hundreds of years ago, by a race far from the Beta Quadrant, floated amongst the stars. Its mission: to seek out strange new worlds, find new civilizations and determine their significance. This probe could detect everything relevant happening in its sensor range of fifty light years radius within the length of a week. Today was supposed to be another quiet, normal day for the probe. But that was not meant to be. Today was the day that it processed all incoming data to determine usefulness. But today, it absorbed a lot of strange data.

Dilithium crystal discharge in a seemingly random pattern, strange extra-dimensional energy patterns not associated with any known race, and a wormhole signature, however brief, followed by an energy wavelength pattern not seen in this galaxy in eons. The probe's higher functions immediately switched online and a message of dire importance flew into subspace. It would take a while to reach its destination, but the owners of the probe would know what to do with the strange signals.

6 months later,

New Busan High School soccer field.

Isaiah sat in the stands with some fellow classmates as they watched the middle school teams play. Genji sat next to him, one row down. He looked at the game with a disinterested look. Genji heard him sigh and looked up. "You're bored, aren't you?" she asked.

"No, no," he replied, "it's just that I... kind of, need more exciting things to do."

"You miss all the fighting?"

"A little. OK, a lot."

A human boy kicked the ball as hard as he could but the ball bounced off the chin of a Tellarite boy. He flew off his ground, stunned from the blow. However, the ball went at almost 180-degree angle off his face, hitting the human boy straight in the crotch before bouncing out of bounds. The crowd groaned as both boys hit the dirt and cried from their various injuries.

"I'm like the Enterprise C, stuck in a solar system with no warp drive," Isaiah complained in the best analogy he could think of. "I need more challenges."

"Have you been training?"

"A little bit, but what's the point? I haven't had a good fight in months."

"This is because you can't fight well," said Enabran as he sat down next to Genji.

"What?" Isaiah asked in anger.

"You lost the last three duels we had and rage quit."

"Nardcrap. I wasn't going to-" the warning siren began its distinctive alert. Everyone stopped what they were doing. "-ask for a fight, but here comes one anyway." He looked around. "Who are we fightin' today?"

"Look up in the sky!" a random woman shouted.

Isaiah looked up. He barely saw a cube-shaped ship at the very edge of the atmosphere using his enhanced visual gear in his eyes. "Cube-shaped aliens?" he asked. "Never heard of those before."

"Help me!" screamed a human from behind the stands. "Run!" screamed another.

Isaiah flew over the top of the stands and hovered. He saw an alien monstrosity of a man, with gray skin all over and half its body covered in machinery. It reached out and grabbed a man as he ran past, then spikes popped out of the alien cyborg's right hand. It jabbed the spikes into the man's throat. He fell down as black lines traced along his face.

"No! NO!" shouted Isaiah. The cyborg looked up at the floating human. That was the last thing it saw as an energy blast shot from Isaiah's hand, vaporizing its head. Colonists of all races ran left and right in a panic. _This is bad. I should get to my parents first._

"I'll get everyone to the town hall!" shouted Genji from the stands.

"Fab. I'll check on our families!" Isaiah took off.

"Isaiah!" Enabran shouted. "Get me to my orb first!"

Isaiah saw Enabran in the stands. He carefully considered his options- of course, he didn't. "Get it yourself! I have to protect my family!"

"You moron! I can help you with that if I'm powered up! Just fly me fast!" Enabran said.

Realizing this was the best way to help, he flew over and scooped him up.

In the air to the Cardassian quarter, they saw the colonists try their best to escape and resist the alien cyborgs. Their phasers did nothing to the cyborgs. Their fists also had little effect. Isaiah let go of Enabran's shoulder to fire a few times, almost dropping him in the process. "Hey watch it!" Enabran said.

Some of the creatures aimed their right arms at them as they flew by. Green balls flew by them. Isaiah dodged them and dropped Enabran on his roof. "OOFFF!' Enabran yelled as he slammed into a wall on the roof.

"Good luck! Don't get killed!" Isaiah shouted as he flew off in the direction of his parents.

"All colonists! Gather at the replicator plants!" shouted the mayor on the loudspeaker.

Isaiah landed by the door and pushed his way inside. He saw his parents crouched in the lab by the enhancement pod. "Dad! What are those things?"

"Son! You're OK!" Mrs. Oregon shouted. She ran over to her son and hugged him with all of her love and caring. She quickly let go. "We've never seen cybernetics like this before!"

"Yeah, they are some kind of hybrid," said Mr. Oregon. He peeked his head above the window and saw the alien cyborgs moving up the road. He ducked down quickly. "The computer doesn't have any files on them either." He wiped some sweat from his forehead.

"Got it. Unknown aliens. What should I do?" Isaiah asked his parents.

"Help us evacuate this area," said Mr. Oregon, "then you can fight as hard as you want." He stood up and picked up his phaser rifle. Mrs. Oregon unslung her rifle.

"Let's check Mr. Smithers' place first," she said.

They stepped outside onto the dusty road. Isaiah made an energy shield to protect his parents as they knocked on the door. vveep bsss! A shot of plasma hit the shield from the left and they dove to the ground. "EEEK!" Mrs. Oregon screamed. Isaiah turned to the left and saw a cyborg approaching, its arm raised and arm-mounted weapon pointed at his parents. Isaiah raised his hand and fired. pttsss! His phaser beam hit a shield, doing no damage. The cyborg alien walked closer. "Uh...what?" He fired again, with the result not changing. Mr. Oregon fired a phaser beam with no effect.

"They have adaptive shielding!" Mr. Oregon shouted.

"Fine! Adapt to this!" He turned the shield from his parents and at the cyborg, then shoved it forward. whamm smassh! The cyborg went flying backward and into Mr. Grin's house at 80kph.

"Good to know basic physics still works," said Mrs. Oregon. She stood up and knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Next house." She ran to the next house.

Enabran and his brother ran down the street, the last of the Cardassians in his neighborhood. A cyborg reached around the corner of the alleyway and grabbed Enabran's brother. "AAH!" he screamed.

"What are you!" Enabran screamed at the cyborg.

"We are the-"

"Don't care!" He grabbed the cyborg's face with his palm. "Burn!" The fire of the Pa Wraith's poured through the cyborg's head, evaporating it and the other bits of flesh. It fell to the ground as a collection of useless inorganic parts.

Enabran's brother, horrified from the sight, jumped back. He saw something coming. "Watch out!" he yelled at his brother.

Enabran spun around and caught a cyborg reaching out to grab him in the chest. The fire once again poured through, though this time he caught a glimpse of his victim. It was a Cardassian that he knew, a friend of a friend. But this friend was not alive anymore and had weird black lines on his face.

"What happened to him?" Enabran's brother asked with fear in his voice.

"Not sure, brother," he said. {What are these things?} he asked the Pa Wraiths.

{We are not the encyclopedia worldtanica, Cardassian child,} the tallest Pa Wraith chided him.

{There are other horrors in your universe besides us, young one,} said the Pa Wraith with four eyes. {Watch your 4 O'clock.}

{My wha-} Enabran turned to the right and fired instinctively, killing a Cardassian that was more...infected... with black material than the previous one. {Thank you.}

At the Industrial Replicator facility,

Moments later

"What the hell are these things?" loudly asked a man as he ran inside the building and past the guards. He ran to where the survivors had gathered.

"Some kind of cyborg alien," said Mr. Smithers. "Some people said they're trying to talk."

"Resistance is futile. You will be, uh-" the security chief repeated.

"Something about assimilation," said Jee-Jee. "They want to add us to-"

"To their collective," said Mr. Oregon. "They appear to be a hive-mind."

"We seem to fight a lot of those these days..." said the mayor. He looked at the weapons on the table. Many were phaser rifles but a good portion were the old-fashioned assault rifles from the previous battle. He rubbed his forehead temples. "So what's the plan?"

"They're obviously after our bodies," said Mr. Oregon, "so we know they're coming this way." He pointed to the door. "Our heroes can do the bulk of the fighting. We will back them up." He pointed to the guns.

Nana Oregon began her explanation. "We noticed they can adapt their shields somehow. But they can't counter two types of attacks at once. So we will rotate attacks." She pointed to the phasers. "Two people fire on the same enemy in sequence. Phaser first then bullet, then switch. If they adapt, switch the order. Force them to waste energy adapting their shields and our boys can handle the rest."

"That's a good plan, Mrs. Oregon," the security chief said. She stood up on a chair and whistled to get everyone's attention. "Listen up! Today, we're fighting the ...Blorg! Is that their name? Anyway! They may seem tough, but like the cave creatures, they will fall to our collective might! Who is ready... to boldly go... and kick some Blorg ass?!"

The Klingons cheered because of course, they would. She continued. "Are you going to let them chase us back to the Alpha Quadrant?!"

"No!" shouted the crowd, the Federation members getting into the fighting spirit.

"Are you going to let them...uh?"

"Assimilate!" a woman shouted to finish her sentence.

"Yeah, that word! To us!"

"NO!" cheered the crowd.

"Then let today be the day that...ONCE AGAIN... we prove that we will not falter, not fall, and never give up! (Unnecessary dramatic pointing at the ground) Today! WE! WILL! PRO-TECT! THIS!...HOUUUSSEEE!"

The crowd cheered. Even the solemn and sulky Enabran got excited by the war fever.

"Hero team! Take point! We will back you up from behind!" the security chief said and climbed from her chair turned soapbox.

Isaiah walked for the door, flanked by Jidod and Enabran. "I'm feeling excited," he said.

"Of course you would," said Enabran. "We charge into the throat of death so often, it never loses its luster."

Jidod adjusted the straps on his dark brown armor and drew his bat'leth from his back. "True victory is always snatched from the drooling jaws of defeat."

"You're a bloodthirsty Klingon. You almost enjoy it."

"So do you, evil Cardassian."

"I'm not really complaining. Besides, I'm the strongest in the village."

The guards pulled away from the large doors and readied their weapons. Isaiah said "You must be talking about me," and kicked the doors open. Standing in front were rows upon rows of cyborg drones. "I'll have the most kills today!"

"YOU WILL BE-"the crowd of cyborg drones said in unison

"PLASMA BLAST! FULL POWER WIDE SPREAD!" shouted Isaiah. FLLLOOOSSSH! A massive beam from both hands vaporized a chunk of the crowd.

"YAAAH!" BOTTSSSSH! Enabran aimed both palms and fired a massive magic energy wave at the cyborgs on his left, destroying and knocking over many drones.

"Save some for me!" Jidod shouted and charged to the right. _I will prove to Kahless that I am worthy to wield his blade_!

Isaiah and Enabran rushed in as well and began fighting the drones with the fists. The drone armor and shields could not compensate for the magic energy and powerful blows from the three warriors and drones fell left and right. Soon, they found themselves surrounded. Scrow! Blam! The drones surrounding the boys soon fell, thanks to cover fire from the colonists in the replicator bay.

A few drones turned their attention to the colonists. whap whap whap! Enabran spun around the group and kicked their heads off. _This physical training is starting to pay off!_

_Kill kill kill! _Isaiah thought as he punched into the chests of the drones and threw their bodies at other drones. He used his gravity control ability to capture a group of walking drones, lifted them up and threw them over the nearby office buildings. "HAHAHAHA! YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR ME!" he yelled in drunken rage and returned to firing energy blasts. A bunch of drones fired at him at the same time and knocked him off his feet.

Jidod noticed him fall down. He cut down two drones and turned around. "You idiot! Don't let your rage get you killed!"

Isaiah shook his head and looked at Jidod. A drone grabbed Jidod from behind and two prongs went into his throat. He dropped his bat'leth and fell down. "No! Jidod!" Isaiah leaped. "POWER PUNCH!" and punched the ground. Many drones around him and the fire team behind him fell down. Isaiah forgot about his teammate and went back to punching the heads off drones.

Enabran, realizing how important Jidod was to their mission, raced over and lifted him up. The infection was spreading. He touched Jidod's shoulder. "Crazy Klingon," he said.

"Don't...let them...take...me..." he pleaded.

Enabran focused. _Scorch only the infection_, he thought, and the Pa Wraith's power flowed into Jidod's body. The nanoprobes vaporized and Jidod's cells returned to their normal form.

Borg ship, low New Busan orbit.

The collective consciousness of the ship took in the data sent by the drones dying by the truckload on the surface. Losses unacceptable. New assimilation threats detected. The hivemind considered its options for a whole second and made its decision. A drone walked over to a specially prepared tube and pressed a few buttons. The gas poured out of the tube, revealing the drone inside. This drone had only a few gray rings around its forehead and cybernetic armor around its thighs, upper chest, and shoulders. It had abs so strong they resembled cheese graters. It walked out of the storage tube, its hair soon flipped upwards, resembling thick pointy spikes. Borg antipersonnel combat unit: begin deployment. The hive mind spoke to the drone. Orders: defeat and capture the high-level enemies on the surface. Show no mercy. Its eyes began to glow from the inside as a strange power grew stronger within it.


	12. What are they? part II

Opening sequence: A orbital view of the planet with a slight classical music background. Then a clip of the colony from the sky. Music changes to the Rock The Dragon remix. Montage of the three main characters fighting each other, the creatures and borg and Genji shooting things. Background goes black. A kssst! sound follows for a second. A half-transparent image of the Borg superfighter, with an evil grin on his face, drifts from right to left. Cut to show name, and Enabran, Isaiah, Genji, and Jidod standing in front of the high school. Isaiah is in the middle, hands down, looking forward, while the others are leaning to the side with arms crossed, looking tough. Isaiah starts to glow red after two seconds. Go to commercial.

The battlefield in front of Industrial Replicator 1,

Jidod stood over the Borg drone he just knocked down with a kick. It looked up at him with a facial expression that confused Jidod. To him, it seemed the drone was... thankful, to be killed. Jidod drove his long blade through the drone's eye socket and twisted. The drone stopped moving. "This is the last of them!"

Isaiah and Enabran hovered over the smoking battlefield and went up a little higher. They didn't see any other Borg drones in their vicinity. "Looks like you are right for once!" Enabran concurred.

"You should never doubt my claims, spoon head!" Jidod said. "I am-" The sound of one hundred drones transporting onto their battlefield interrupted his retort. "-going to fight some more, it seems!" He rotated the bat'leth into a fighting position.

"Believe it!" Shouted Isaiah as he landed and prepared to fight.

"No, son! Shield us!" said Mr. Oregon on the radio.

Isaiah quickly raised his hands and made a hard light shield. Many shots bounced off his shield. "Why, dad?" he asked.

"Our special weapon is almost ready! We just need a minute more!"

Enabran and Jidod stepped beside Isaiah. "What is their plan?" Enabran asked.

"They're about to use a special weapon!" Isaiah filled him in. The shield began showing cracks from the constant bombardment. He gritted his teeth and read the alerts from his computer. Maintaining the shield was becoming a challenge. He looked inside the replicator factory. "Any minute now, dad!" He shouted.

The security chief and the mayor ran to the right of the hero team. They were holding metal balls with buttons on top. "Time to be heroes, Mr. mayor," the security chief said to the mayor.

"Even I can throw a ball, Ms. Taylor," the mayor replied. With a strong throw, the balls went over the shield and into the crowd of Borg drones. Some drones stopped firing to see what the balls were. FTSSSH! The balls exploded. An electromagnetic pulse went through the crowd and the drones fell to the ground.

Isaiah lowered the shield. "Wow. Why didn't I think of that?" he asked.

"Because you're not the genius," said Enabran.

As they walked to check on the motionless drones, Jidod said "Now the mayor has more kills than me. That doesn't seem right."

"What? You want to challenge him-" Another transporter signal interrupted him. They stopped walking and raised their hands and weapons to fight. Only one cyborg transported down from the cube. Standing an impressive 5'8" and covered with rippling muscles, the team looked worried. "What is this thing? And why does it have spiky hair?"

Bands of blue electricity went up from its legs and wrapped around its chest and arms before fading away. It looked at the team with its cold analysis engine. Target the armed Klingon first, then the leadership. It flew forward, its speed catching Jidod by surprise. wham! Isaiah struck first, punching the superfighter in the side as hard as he could. spauw! A dark energy ball flew from its hands and exploded in front of the security chief and the mayor, as the superfighter spiraled out of the control and smashed through a house.

The superfighter stood up and shook its head to get reoriented. It opened its eyes and immediately saw Isaiah's fist coming at it. whamp! Another devastating blow sent the cyborg flying. It stopped its tumble and hovered in mid-air. KAKOOM! A magic energy ball fired by Enabran hit the creature in the chest and it tumbled to the ground, landing on the plateau above the village.

As the superfighter stood up, Isaiah approached it for another power punch. _It's stronger than the other drones but I should be able to-_ the drone ducked under the power punch -_Oh shi-_ and fluk! As the drone ducked, it swung its fist upwards and onto Isaiah's chest. Isaiah felt like a boulder hit him. He tumbled out of control and slammed into the ground. He rolled up and charged at the calm cyborg. wap wap wap wap! Isaiah unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at the enemy which got blocked as it stepped back. _He's fast! I'll hit him fas-ugh!_ The counterattack began. Isaiah got pummeled all over his body from a titanic barrage of punches and kicks. Each hit sent him skidding backwards with the superfighter stepping forward to keep up the barrage. Isaiah's shields weakened under the barrage. He tried blocking but the superfighter punched and kicked around his blocks. Eventually, wap wap! Isaiah caught the superfighter's hands. _Now to-_ Isaiah's thoughts were disrupted when he got headbutted in the face. "Argh!" he yelped. Ftssh BOOOM! An explosion fired by the superfighter sent the young hero bouncing along the dry plateau.

Enabran saw his teammate get knocked off his feet. He fired a magic energy shot at the distracted superfighter, but it leaped out of the way. KABOOOM! The shot left another crater in the potmarked planet. It spun in the air and fired a dark matter blast from its palm at the hovering hero. Enabran dodged the blast and fired again, missing wildly. They flew and fired at each other until whamp! A mid-air collision and tackle sent the fighters spiraling out of control. Enabran grabbed the drone's legs, spun it upside down, locked its head straight with his feet and dove straight down for the nearest boulder. FAKRAM! Enabran sent the tough superfighter through the boulder at 1000 kilometers per hour. Shards of rock went flying everywhere, forcing Enabran to swat away the larger chunks as he landed.

Before he could catch his breath, the superfighter rose from the ground like a spirit rising from its grave. Blue electric bands of energy coursed from its legs and into its hands.

{It's going to shoot, boy!} said the shortest Pa Wraith. Enabran reacted quickly and put his hands and fingers together to fire a big shot of energy. BTTOOOM! SPAUKAUW! Both shots hit true to their marks and knocked the fighters off their feet.

The superfighter got to his feet first. An object appeared on its motion sensor and it spun around. Isaiah had returned to the fight, flying at the enemy. "You're gonna die today!" he shouted at the enemy and drew his right fist back. The cyborg quickly analyzed his fighting style and knew something was up. Sure enough, Isaiah spun his body and foot forward in a spin kick. whap! The superfighter caught the strong kick with its armpit and wrapped its arm around Isaiah's leg. Scanning... "Oh crap!" said Isaiah. He started pulling on his leg to get it loose. Weakness located. thrauk! "EEEEEEAAA!" The superfighter struck his weak point with a devastating uppercut; right into his balls. He covered his crotch automatically. It let go of the broken hero's leg, then caught him by the throat. It tossed the broken hero up a bit, drew back its right fist and BABOOSH! Another massive energy blast from its hands sent the hero flying PABLAM! Into the peak of a nearby pillar-shaped mountain.

"Isaiah!" screamed Enabran. He ran towards the cold-blooded cyborg. "I'll tear you apart!" He pulled his left hand back, ready to strike at the distracted enemy. The superfighter turned to face his next victim. Enabran threw his punch but his arm got grabbed mid-punch. Enabran smiled. "Right where I want you!" He swung his left arm down and grabbed the cyborg's covered right arm. "MELT!" The fiery heat of the Pa Wraiths flowed through his hand, melting the strong cybernetic infrastructure around the enemy's arm. Weakness located. thrauk! "AAIIIEEEE!" Enabran fell to the ground, clutching his damaged groin. The Pa Wraiths in his head also fell to the floor, clutching their groins in horrid pain.

{Why does it hurt so much?!} the tallest Pa Wraith whined as he rolled around on the floor.

{This is...the worrrstt!} the shortest Pa Wraith groaned.

{I don't even have this part on my body so why I am feeling it too?} the female Pa Wraith said.

{Help!} Enabran cried. {I can't move!}

{We feel...what you...feel...} said the Pa Wraith with four eyes. {We're...paralyzed...tooo...}

"NOOO!" Isaiah screamed as he flew at the enemy, energy glowing around his hands. The superfighter braced himself and caught both of Isaiah's arms before he could grab its head. _Oh no not-_ thrauk! This time, a mighty kick struck Isaiah's damaged groin. Massive amounts of pain radiated through his body and he dropped all notions of continuing his attack. "RRHHHEEEE!" He stopped floating and immediately fell to the dirt, clutching his groin and crying in a high pitched voice like his teammate next to him. "He..keeps...hitting me...in...the...nuts..."

Enabran looked up at the merciless, ball bashing superfighter. It was hard to tell in the sunlight, but it looked like the monster had finally shown an expression. _It's smiling? I ughghgh can use...this..._ "I know...you're in... there, somewhere. Don't let these robots... control you. Where is...your...pride...as a...warrior?"

The superfighter looked away from the sprawled enemies. Its facial expression became distant, like a thousand-yard stare. It bent its legs into a partial squat and screamed. The strange blue electricity circled around its body. The right arm and leg cybernetic gear fell off its body, along with the eyepiece around its right eye. After the screaming stopped, it bent over and put its hands on its knees. "I'm... a...warrior!" it yelled in frustration. The blue electricity disappeared. "I... will...will...fight!"

Enabran took out his communicator and called Jidod. "Need...help. We're on the ridge to the right of town! Get here in 2 minutes!" He put it away and rolled over to Isaiah. "You've got to attack while it's resisting their control!"

"What are you...going to do?" Isaiah asked with a wince in his voice. "I can...barely...move."

"Set...a...trap...once...my crotch...stops...throbbing."

{Computer, reduce pain from crotch. Then, activate weapon maker,} Isaiah ordered.

{Acknowledged,} the computer replied.

Isaiah rolled to his stomach and put his hand on the ground. Replicator energy flowed through the ground. Isaiah grabbed the object he made and pulled it from the ground. It was a long spear with a flat sharp blade and two diagonal blades near the tip. A spear of fantasy media made real, and Isaiah knew where he wanted to shove it. He stood up and spun it in a circle, finishing the spin by pointing it at the enemy. "Guess where it's going! Where no man has gone before!" he shouted at the enemy. "5 pillars attack!" He ran forwards and the angry cyborg turned and got ready. He made a thrust, the cyborg began to dodge since its borg screens were not set up to handle primitive weaponry. But this was Isaiah's 5 pillars attack style. His computer channeled 2g gravity to his right, quickly pulling him to another position. thuck! The spear went into the side of the enemy and quickly out. The cyborg swung to break the spear but missed as Isaiah quickly slid to his right again. thuck! The spear blade went into the superfighter's back, dealing it even more damage. It spun around but Isaiah was faster and speared him again, this time in the upper chest. Annoyed with the stabbing, it swung its closest arm through the spear, shattering the titanium shaft.

Isaiah looked at his broken weapon. "Ah nardcrap!" he said.

It yanked the blade from its body and threw it away, then flew at Isaiah and struck him in the chest. Isaiah somersaulted from the mighty blow, bouncing off the hard dry soil like a rock skipping along the edge of a pond.

The superfighter, its Borg directives back in control, walked towards Enabran. He laid still on the ground, clutching his crotch. A meter away from Enabran, the ground glowed red. The superfighter stopped and sensed something was wrong. FLWWWOOOSSSHH! A massive red hot column of flame shot into the sky from the spot it stepped on. "This is how Cardassians fight, you crotch punching forbort!" He shouted as he stood up and jumped back 10 meters. The column of magical flame faded away.

The superfighter was on his knees, all of his remaining Borg equipment sizzling from the heat of the attack. Enabran shouted at Isaiah, who was behind the superfighter. "Now! Hit him with your phaser beam!" Enabran cupped his hands together and fired a magical energy beam. Isaiah fired at the same time. The two beams clashed against the superfighter's shields. They focused harder and the shields went down, the beams cutting rest of the Borg equipment off. They stopped firing as the superfighter flopped to the ground.

Enabran lowered his hands and started breathing hard. "Is... it...done?!" he asked loudly.

"Don't know," Isaiah replied. "We got it pretty good. Computer, sensor scan." The computer checked the data coming from Isaiah's sensors and eyes. "It thinks it's still alive!"

"How can that be?! This-" The creature stood up, shocking Enabran into silence.

"You...you think, you think," said the superfighter. Its repetitive speech seemed to indicate that the superfighter had broken through the programming again. "You dare to defeat me?! I am INVINCIBLE!" The superfighter squatted down slightly and screamed. The strange blue electricity ripped around its body. Muscles swelled and its hair stood even straighter up. All seemed lost for the heroes of New Busan. The freed superfighter stood straight up, its hands to its side in a fighting stance. The screaming and powerful energies became louder. The air swirled around it like a small dust storm. The ground shook from the power waves emanated from the superfighter. A weird white line went through the drone from head to groin in a half-second "AAHHH~!" The screaming stopped. Its eyes stopped glowing. The wind stopped. The left side of the drone slid to the right and the right side of the drone slid to the left. Green blood sprayed everywhere.

The team saw Jidod walk calmly away from the smoking, bloody corpse of the superfighter. He swung his bat'leth around to stick onto his back.

"Wow! You did it!" shouted Isaiah.

"Wait for it..." said Jidod as he continued his hero walk away from the body.

"What are you doing?" asked Enabran.

"And...now," Jidod replied. BA-BOOOOM! The corpse exploded. "Hero walk, complete." He stopped walking. "Who's the hero now?"

Isaiah floated over to him. "You can have this one! I don't care at all!" he shouted.

"I'm glad you followed my plan," said Enabran as he floated over to Jidod.

"How did you know this was going to work?" he asked Enabran.

"I didn't. I only knew that your blade pierced through the others' shields without problem. I noticed when it went after you first, that your weapon might have something they can't handle." He crossed his arms. "We couldn't fight at full power so close to the village; but since we couldn't beat it on our own, I knew it was time to put you into the game."

Jidod smiled. "Finally, you come up with a decent plan."

Isaiah was prompted by the computer, so he looked up. "Well, now that it's dead, we need a plan for this thing," he told his teammates. He pointed up at the cube. "How do you want to deal with the rubix cube ship?"

"Forbort!" said Enabran in realization. "With all of its warriors dead, it will fire on the village from orbit. We need to take it down!" He looked at Isaiah. "Can you do it from down here?"

"I almost shot down a Romulan ship," said Isaiah, "so why not? I'll give it a Starfleet try!"

"That makes me the backup plan. Jidod, this is going to be messy."

Jidod removed his blade. "You do not have to say anything more. I will protect the village." He took off and flew towards the town.

{Pa Wraiths; I need a big favor. What's the most powerful natural destructive force in the universe that you can make?}

{The cube ship is powering weapons,} the computer told Isaiah.

{I know! We have to make it target us!} He raised his hands and aimed at the ship. {It already knows how to block phaser energy. How about an ion energy beam?}

{Converting energy to polaric ion form. Brace yourself for strong kickback.}

KRU-TOOOSSH! The massive white beam fired from his hands towards the cube ship. In space, a green light glowed on the hull. The Borg cutting beam lanced downward at Isaiah at the same time he fired. WHA-KOOOM! The ground vaporized around his feet. Blasted off his ground, Isaiah tumbled uncontrollably in the air. But his beam struck the ship hard, destroying its shield emitters and punching a hole clean through it.

blip! Enabran appeared in space, hovering a few kilometers from the wounded ship. {Now's our chance!} He cupped his hands together. {Show these things no mercy! Gamma gun! FIRREEE!}

The Borg ship noticed a massive magic energy buildup on its right side, but it was too late to run. The space in front of the ship was swallowed up by a massive red toned gamma ray blast wave. After the wave passed, nothing remained of the cube ship.

{We...we...did...it,} Enabran said. Exhausted, his body quivering in pain, he started to fall asleep. {We-}.

{Time to go home, hero,} said the female Pa Wraith. She looked to the colony and transported him. SPLOOSH! Into the town fountain because her aim was slightly off. The shock and presence of water around him forced him awake. He gasped. Some human adults ran over to him and pulled him out of the water. He shook his head. "The enemy, they are gone. I've, we've destroyed them all," he told the people around him. The people cheered loudly and this cheer echoed around the village. News soon spread fast.

Unfortunately, the cheering woke up the borged colonists. Free from the hivemind, they ran away from the village and family. To where? Only Dave knows...

Funeral Ceremony,

one day later.

The crowd dispersed, the town counselor having finished the ceremony to bury the mayor, the security chief, eight security guards/redshirts, 20 other colonists, and headstones for nine missing colonists.

Isaiah thought about the battle. _If only I were faster and stronger, I could have saved them all. _He remembered the moment when he first struck the superfighter. _Ok, maybe not everyone_. He looked at Jidod and Genji as they walked away together. Genji seemed in better spirits when she began talking to him. He looked at the bat'leth of Kahless with envy. _Maybe if I had that instead, I'd be stronger...I'd be the best hero in the colony._ He thought about how his efforts were key to stopping the cyborgs. _Well, maybe I already am. But with that sword, I could be the strongest fighter in the Alpha Quadrant._

A hand on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts. "Are you OK, son?" asked Gabriel Oregon.

"Uh, yeah, dad," he replied.

"I know you tried your best. It's thanks to you and your team that we lived through this to honor our dead. That makes you a hero in everyone's book."

"Thanks, dad. But I need to get stronger."

"You punched a hole in a ship and fought off a super cyborg," Gabriel scoffed at the idea of his son being weak. "But if you want it badly enough..."

"I think we can start planning the next round of upgrades," said Nana Oregon. She took off the funeral veil as they left the cemetery.

Genji waved goodbye to Jidod and started to look for her grandmother in the crowd. A flickering light glanced off her eye. It came from an odd angle, away from the setting sun, so she looked up and to the right. The sun reflected off of something shiny past the cracked plateau that framed the right side of the town. She heard her grandmother's voice and turned away from the reflection in the distance.


	13. Section 31 Knockin' at Your Door

Opening sequence starts the same as last episode, only with clips of the characters clashing with the Borg superfighter mixed in along with the borg ship exploding. The background turns black after the fight clips end. The kzzsst! sound happens and a black Federation com badge drifts across the screen for a second. The show title appears, with Enabran in the middle of the team. He is standing straight ahead as 5 fire-shaped small humanoids dance around him. Cut to commercial.

New Busan Spaceport,

One week after the battle.

The crates of important supplies began to pile up on the landing pads. The new mayor and Mr. Smithers stood by as colonists and Starfleet crews began opening crates and moving boxes around. Two Starfleet officers beamed down from the USS Enterprise B. Both were human, with one being much tanner skinned than the other. Mr. Smithers immediately noticed that both men were wearing black badges.

"Good morning. Are you the mayor?" the tan-skinned human asked.

"That's me!" said the human girl standing next to Mr. Smithers.

"What, really?" the human officer asked.

"The mayor died in the recent fighting," Mr. Smithers explained, "and nobody except her wanted the job."

"I declare Thursday to be ice-cream for lunch day!" said the little girl.

"She has a powerful platform and great charisma. What a great idea, Ms. Mayor."

"Thank you, Misty Smithers." She raised her head up in pride, then looked at the officers. "So who are you bozos?"

"Right, of course..." The tan-skinned officer knelt down and offered a hand. "I am Commander Austin Pense. My colleague is Ensign Eben Purcell." The mayor shook their hands. "My team and I are here to buttress the colony's defenses. Seems like you could use extra help."

"That is a good thing. Resting butts is important," the mayor stated. "But our defenses are strong now."

"How is that?" asked Ensign Purcell.

"We have superheroes!" She started pointing her hands and making cute blasting sounds.

"Superheroes?"

"Project Ankaris," said Commander Pense. He looked at Mr. Smithers. "Speaking of which, where can I meet these heroes?"

Oregon family living room,

after school

Happy with his day, Isaiah flew home in a good mood. He had received Bs on all of his quarterly exams, a first for him lately. Genji had complimented him on his history project, and the very cute (and bald) Deltan girl loved hovering with him. _High school isn't so bad these days. Why did people whine about it so much in the old days? It's not like they had to fight Klingons all day on old Earth, _he thought as he landed and triggered the door. "Hi Mom, Dad! I'm hooo- oh forbort!"

"Son! Language!" Gabriel shouted at him.

Isaiah, shocked by the sight of three Starfleet officers in his house surrounding his parents on the sofa, dropped his backpack. The door snapped shut behind him. "What's going on?" He saw phasers in holsters and hands close to them. "Are you trying to kidnap my parents?!"

"No, Isaiah," Commander Pence started to say, "we-"

"That's not a Starfleet badge color! You're Obsidian Order!" Isaiah raised his palms to attack.

"Obsidi-what?"

"Kill first questions later! Computer! Phaser shotgun! Full pow-" Isaiah's discharge crystals began glowing ominously and rapidly.

"Son! Stop!" Nana stood up and stepped in front of the Starfleet officers. "They are on our side! Power down!"

Isaiah looked at her with a confused expression. {Computer, cancel attack,} he ordered. The glow in his hands dimmed. "You better have an explanation I like, or-"

"Settle down, boy!" Gabriel yelled at his son. "They are a Federation black ops division called Section 31."

"We have black ops in the Federation?" Isaiah asked. He lowered his hands, stunned by the revelation.

"Technically," Austin said, "we were started by the United Earth government. But that's a history lesson for another day. What you need to know is Project Ankaris was our idea. Your abilities came from your family's research but the tech came from us."

"Dad... what?"

"It's true, son." Gabriel stood up and walked over to his confused son. "Section 31 saw the value of our early research into cybernetics and protomatter. Working with clues and tech from other species, we learned how to bootstrap all that technology into making you what you are today."

"There was no way we would've afforded dilithium crystals and nanoprobes on our own," said Nana. "You knew that."

"That is why we are here today," said Austin as he walked towards the hero. "We were afraid that the Borg, those cyborgs you fought last week, came here to reclaim their stolen tech."

"You've... fought those things before?" Isaiah asked.

"Not really. We don't know much about them," said Ensign Purcell. "They might not even be from the Alpha or Beta Quadrants. They attacked the Earth a long time ago, during first contact with the Vulcans. And United Earth fought them once and barely won."

"We have no idea what they were doing this far away from Sector 001," said Austin. "Our best guess is they somehow detected your battles and got curious. Or afraid."

The third Section 31 officer in the back crossed his arms and said "I would be afraid too if I knew there were people like you walking around. I just wouldn't be stupid enough to pick a fight, though."

"However, the Borg were and they almost won. That is why we are here," said Austin. He put a gentle hand on Isaiah's shoulder. "You and your team of heroes are the Federation's best hope against the dark forces aligned against us."

"I... I guess we are," Isaiah reported.

"Based on what your father has told us, you have made others around you stronger. That's great. Diversity is our strength."

"You probably didn't plan on your classmates getting superpowers either," said the third officer, "but we won't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"What does that even mean anyway?"

Austin removed his hand. "What that means is, we will be staying here to help you protect the colony and make you and your team stronger. Speaking of which, who is your team leader?"

Isaiah rolled his eyes. "Making a lot of assumptions here..."

Outside colony art workshop #2, The Golden Arches,

4:30 pm

Genji waved goodbye to the artists in the workshop and turned around. She was about to head home when sunlight hit her in the face. _Where is this reflection coming from?_ she wondered. She looked in its direction. She stepped a little to the side to block a little of it from her eyes. It was coming from the pillar-shaped mountain, where the team had fought the superfighter. _What could be in that mountain that's so reflective?_ she wondered. _Should I call the science team? _She took out her communicator. _Hell no! It's bothered me twice this week! I'll solve this mystery._ She called the computer. _Why should I let the boys have all the fun?_ "Computer, transport me to the top of the pillar-shaped mountain," she commanded.

"You have...47... transporter credits remaining for the month," said the computer. Transporter energy circled around her body and she was off on her own adventure.

whooosh! A strong breeze sent her tumbling back on the ledge. She reached out and grabbed a handhold on the mountain wall. The wind at that altitude was far stronger than she assumed. And colder, too. Her thin blouse and sweatshirt flapped heavily in the breeze, exposing her belly to the winds. _Wish I brought a coat!_ She pulled her way forward, heading for the opening Isaiah made in the mountain. When she got to the opening, she pulled her way inside. The cold winds did not fill the cavern. It was still cold inside, as if the sun only touched for a short time per day.

She saw the source of the reflection; a brilliant white surface covering the back wall. It didn't match the black mountain granite surrounding it. _Bingo; it's gotta be a hidden room. But this mountain is not very wide. What could be hiding here?_ She walked up to the surface. She put her hand on it because why wouldn't you put your exposed hand on an unknown material in a dark cave? _Metal? Plasteel? Titanium 47? What is this stuff?_ Before she could think of what to do next, a thin slot opened up in the surface next to her hand. She looked at it. A card popped out of the slot. The card was almost transparent with blue and white lines running horizontally along the midsection. She took the card out of the slot. _It looks like some sort of circuitry card. _When she picked it up, she saw the lines in the card begin glowing. Colorful lights traced through the lines. _It's artificial. The Alpha Quadrant powers don't-_

A wave of energy went from the card and into her body. She violently shook for a moment, as if she had stepped on the full speed vibration plate at the gym. Strange voices permeated her mind. Then the energy flowed back into the card and she fell down, still holding the mysterious card. The slot in the surface closed. The floor of the cavern shook, then fell apart into tiny pieces. She dropped with the pieces deeper into the mountain before she could scream. When the floor disappeared, it showed more of the surface. Under the floor, the mysterious surface had the shape of a mark. A large, reflective mask. A moment after the floor fell apart, two horizontal spots on the upper portion of the mask began pulsing red.

A dark chamber,

20 minutes later.

_Why does my head hurt so much?_ Genji thought as she opened her eyes. There was no light anywhere. She wondered if she passed out on the floor, but she felt something soft. Like she was in a chair. She felt the armrests of the chair and something that felt like a sphere by her hands. She moved her legs up and felt nothing but air. _I am in a chair! But where?_ It was so dark she could only see the phosphene light effect generated by human eyes. "Hello?" she said, hoping that someone heard her.

When she looked down, she saw a light. It was coming from the card still in her hand. The light lines traced up and down the card. Then they stopped halfway up the card.

click! She felt something hook onto her neck. A bunch of lights came on around her as holographic screens appeared to her left and right. Then came the flood of information into her mind. "AAGGH!" she screamed as data in an alien language flooded her mind. Images, numbers, and facts streamed into and out of her mind as if she was the spigot of a hose. The lights grew brighter and it dawned on her that she was in a cockpit. The spheres by her hands lit up. She felt something 'force' her hands to put the card into the slot on the left armrest and then her hands onto the spheres. She heard a strange, high-pitched whine behind her.

"#)*%()#*#(#*ㅎㄷ옿," a voice said in an alien language. "Welcome, pilot," it said in Federation language, in a deep male voice.

"What is this place? Who are you?" Genji asked as sweat began to run down her cheek.

"My name is unpronounceable to your tongue. You may address as you wish. As for what I am... feel the data I sent you with your mind."

"How do I-" Genji was about to ask when all of a sudden, she _knew_ where she was, and what she was in. "Ah... Well then, I call you Jingwei." (pronounced Jing-Way)

"Jing...wei?"

"Yes. To my ancestors, it was a mythological bird that wanted to fill the seas with sticks. It refused to give up no matter what."

"Designation logged. Jingwei, online and ready."

"Launch."

Oregon family living room,

at the same time.

Austin paced around the living room as he spoke. "Ideally, we want you and your team to remain here at the colony, and only deploy you off-world during times of dire need," he explained. "Maintaining some semblance of secrecy is key to-" The communicator buzzed. He took it out and answered. "Pence here."

"Sir, you're not going to believe this," said the woman on the phone.

"Try me," he responded.

"There is...something big flying near the colony, sir."

"OK, like what?"

"Sir, are you near a viewscreen?"

"Yes, lieutenant. Transmit on channel..," He looked at Mr. Oregon.

"14. Nobody watches 14 here," said Mr. Oregon.

"Yeah, channel 14."

Mr. Oregon turned on the viewscreen and set it to channel 14. It was a camera view from the Starfleet ship in orbit, looking down on the colony. The camera was tracking a giant flying robot as it flew in the wasteland south of the colony. Austin said "I'll call you back," and hung up.

"Do weird things like this happen here frequently?" asked Ensign Purcell.

"More often than I'd like," said Nana.

"Isn't that why you put the colony here?" sarcastically asked Isaiah.

"Good point," said Austin. "Now go do your power up thing and investigate."

At the same time, at Enabran's house, he and his younger brother were flipping through channels. "This colony sucks!" said Enabran's younger brother. "Ten thousand channels and nothing good to watch!" They flipped through a Xelatian sports channel, the 90s X-Men cartoon, and stopped on channel 14. Which was now showing a live feed of the giant robot doing loop-de-loops in the wasteland by the colony. "Wow this is so cool!" he said.

"Hey...is that our colony?" asked Enabran.

"What? Really? I think you're right."

"I don't mean to state the obvious," Enabran stood up, "but that is a giant flying robot."

"Yes."

"Flying outside our colony."

"Yes."

"It is not far from the colony."

"Yes."

"I'd better see what it wants. After all, I am the town hero."

"Whatevs. Mom says dinner's at 6 tonight. Try not to die."

Enabran laughed as he walked to the stairs. "I'll try not to disappoint you."


	14. Mobility

Opening sequence: like the previous episode. At the black background with the ksst! sound, a semi-transparent image of Genji's Jingwei drift from left to right for a second and a half. Jingwei closely resembles Orbital frames Jehuty and Ares, minus the dong cockpit. The show title appears, with Genji in the middle of the team. Commander Austin Pense is standing next to her with a phaser rifle in his hands. The screen flashes for a quarter second and Genji is replaced by Jingwei's head. Cut to commercial.

The skies 5km south of New Busan,

Jingwei calmly hovered as Genji carefully looked at the data on the screens in her dark blue cockpit. She had learned a few things so far about its power source (partially based on solar), propulsion system (antigrav with a mix of high-speed ion thrusters and something else that she didn't understand) and maneuverability (the system can read her thoughts and intentions through the control spheres by her hands and neural link). The thing she was most interested in had not appeared on her screens, though.

A beeping sound caught her attention and she looked at the alert on her main screen. A powerful object was approaching from the north. She smiled and turned around to face the object with no concern, for she knew what it was.

Isaiah saw 'it' but had trouble believing 'it'. It looked like something he might have seen in a cartoon a long time ago. As he got closer it became clearer to him he was facing something real, and very alien. Standing an amazing 15 meters tall, encased in sleek fire-engine red armor with long black lines tracing vertically from a black 9 point star-shaped apex in its chest down to its sharp tips at the legs. It had no feet. Extending from its legs from several spots every meter up its long legs were what he thought were rope tassels since they only went a meter off the leg. The thighs appeared somewhat thick to him. He noticed a few circular holes along the frame, which made him think of ports. _Ports for what?_ he wondered. He looked at the long arms and noticed a thin patch of green color on the dorsal sides of the arms, extending up to the elbow. _That's an odd color. I bet it means something,_ he thought. He looked at the biceps on the robot and it made him realize he would never want to arm-wrestle it. As he got closer, he saw more of its torso as it turned to face him. Riblike slots ran up and down its sides like slatted armor, halved by the black lines from the upper chest and thought it was flexible He looked past the apex point and saw a pulse of dark green light shoot from the apex and along the lines, terminating at the legs in a second. He looked at the head or helmet; he couldn't decide which it was. It had the same slatted armor around its thin neck. He looked at the chin and noticed it had a small edged point coming off it like a braided beard. The 'face' of the machine looked like a visor extending from above the chin to the edge of the forehead. This face was very reflective to him. At the top of the head was a white sun shield extending slightly outward from the visor, which made him think of a bike helmet. At the top of the head, he saw three thin poles extending a meter and a half, one on each side of the head where ears would be, and one from the top of the head at a narrow-angle upward. _Those must be antennas._

He stopped flying about 50 meters from the intimidating flying machine, about where he estimated the robot's arm reach. _It's not shooting at me. That's a good sign,_ he thought. He pointed at the robot. "Hey! Who are you and what do you want here?!" he demanded.

Genji looked at Isaiah's hovering form and saw him do something. She couldn't tell and thought _does this thing have a zoom_\- Her question was answered as the screen suddenly zoomed him on him. She saw his mouth move and point a finger at him. _I wonder what he said?_ A ball with a flashing crescent appeared on the screen in the corner by his head. The crescent disappeared when he stopped speaking. _Damn I missed it. I'll just wait a minute._ She made Jingwei cross its arms to its chest.

Isaiah grew frustrated when he saw the robotic alien cross its arms. "Hey! Are you ignoring me?" he asked loudly and pointed his finger at the robot. "I will blow your ass up!"

Genji heard him this time. "Speaker, on," she commanded. A beeping sound told her she was live. "Are you talking to me?" she asked.

"Who else would I be?!" Isaiah asked. "Now who are you and what do you want?"

The question made her think for a moment. _I haven't accessed its historical logs. What were these things called?_ The alien symbols appeared then morphed into Federation language. _Mobile Giant!_ "I am Jingwei, the last Mobile Giant! Or the first. I forgot to ask. Now, what do you want?"

Isaiah pointed at himself, beat his chest once and pointed back at Jingwei then the sky as he spoke. "I am Isaiah! Hero of the Federation colony New Busan! I'm in charge of things here! I'm telling you to get the hell out of here, Mr. Jingwei robot or whatever the **** you are!"

Jingwei put its hands on its hips as it spoke. "Oh really, pint size? Do you take that tone with your mother as well? Or do you just like to start fights that you can't win?" Genji noticed a bright light coming from the colony. "Ah, the colony's REAL hero has shown up!"

Enabran stopped and hovered next to Isaiah. "I heard that," he said. He smiled as he took a relaxed stance. "It appeared word of my excellent track record of heroism has left the colony." He turned to the left and smiled at Isaiah with sharp teeth and then looked at the hovering robot. "Of course, I don't mean to brag, but what heroic deeds I have accomplished are you aware of?"

"You blew up a cyborg ship single-handedly."

"HEY I HELPED TOO!" shouted Isaiah. He put his arm up to keep Enabran back and floated slightly ahead of him.

"All you did was get hit in the balls, over and over again!" Jingwei replied.

Enabran laughed and said, "That is true yet my sidekick was helpful!"

"Sidekick?!" Isaiah was furious at the suggestion. "I was the first hero! I'm the top kick here!"

A green message appeared in Genji's mind. _Solar charging cycle completed, huh? Two minutes to vacuum energy engine activation? Well then… I'd better give this big boy a workout. _"It is time to change that order," said Genji. "I will be taking command of this colony and of its heroes!"

"NEVER!" shouted Isaiah. He briefly glowed and flew towards the floating robot. "I WILL DEST-OOOG!" **BLAT! **Jingwei quickly backslapped the approaching human with its massive hand. He tumbled out of control and slammed into the ground face first, adding yet another impact crater to the pockmarked planet.

Enabran looked in shock at his fallen friend, then back at the enemy. "Next," said Jingwei the Mobile Giant. Enabran steeled his mind and focused. He raised his right fist upwards and red flaming energy flowed upwards, forming into an energy fist the size of Jingwei's.

"Block this," Enabran said as he punched. The giant fist followed his will. Jingwei casually dodged the fist with a leftward burst from its side torso thrusters. Enabran quickly retracted and threw the punches again, but somehow the giant flying robot dodged them. Enabran made a faint to the right and the robot fell for it. He swung quickly to the left. **thrunk! **The fist of solid energy slammed Jingwei back. He threw another punch. **brakk! **The Jingwei blocked with both arms. **brakkbrakkbrakk!** He began pummeling the robot with his floating fist, but the robot didn't move a step back. He pulled his fist back and challenged more energy into the fist. Jingwei saw it coming and flew at the fist. It then spun around to dodge the fist and swung a leg forward. **SMACK! **Enabran got hit with the full force of the blow, and spiraled out of control in the same direction as Isaiah.

**WHAP! **Isaiah caught his stunned friend as he flew back to the battle. Enabran shook off the pain and Isaiah released him. "Thanks," he said. "Any ideas?"

"Yeah! Let's stomp it into the ground!" angrily said, Isaiah. He flew like a rocket and smashed onto Jingwei's chest. He started punching then flew out of the way as the hand moved to swat him away. {Help me dodge its attacks!} he ordered his computer.

{Acknowledged,} said the computer. {Adjusting flight pattern to semi-auto control. You should duck now.}

"Waah!" Isaiah screamed as he ducked a horizontal swing of Jingwei's hands. He flew around the head and struck next to the left antenna, leaving a small crack in its armor. The robot seemed to feel that as it staggered slightly away from the attack. Isaiah was about to follow it up when he spun and flew back to dodge another strike.

"Trying to mess up my paint job?" Genji asked. She was about to attack again when an alert appeared on her screens. _Enabran's charging an attack!_ She waited and dodged at the last moment, the beam of energy barely missing them both. Isaiah smelled burning hair from the top of his head.

"Hey! Where you aimin'!" Isaiah shouted at Enabran.

"Tell it to sit still so I can shoot it!"

On the roof of Isaiah's house stood the Section 31 officers and Isaiah's parents. They had hastily made binoculars in their hands and looked at the exciting action outside. Commander Pense looked at his datapad, which also had a live stream of the battle from the ship's view. They saw Isaiah and Enabran fly at the robot, stop to punch the robot's fists, and fly away to dodge.

"Why is a giant robot fighting my son?" Nana asked the Section 31 officers.

"We just got here," said Commander Pense. "I was hoping you could tell us."

Gabriel murmured as he saw the robot shake a finger at the hero team as they charged it, then quickly fly upwards to dodge their blitz. "It looks like the robot is testing our boys. That finger gesture is a human taunt."

"Why would an alien robot use a human taunt?"

"Perhaps it has a human pilot?" He was about to speculate further when the robot caught Enabran and threw him into Isaiah, sending both heroes plummeting to the ground.

"I will find out," said the third officer. He tapped his black badge. "Harriman to Enterprise. One to beam up."

Isaiah opened his eyes. He saw the sun shining on him, and squinted. The robot floated in front of the sun. He could start to see the various alerts in his mind. Of special importance were the weakened structural integrity field, shields at ten percent, and the broken ribs.

"Tired of getting your ass whipped?" Jingwei asked.

"You still alive?" Isaiah asked Enabran.

"Ummhuh…" he replied with a mumble. Isaiah looked at him. Enabran's head was stuck in the ground. Isaiah reached over and pulled his friend out of the ground. "Thanxz." He wiped the dirt from his face. "What's the new plan?"

"We blast it to pieces!"

"An excellent strate-cough!"

They stood up. Jingwei crossed its arms. "You could just put me in charge. You wouldn't have to keep eating dirt."

"SHUT UP AND DIE!" Isaiah screamed as he aimed his hands at Jingwei.

"I am not going to-" **cablooom! **A red ball shot from his hands and exploded, rocking the robot and interrupting Genji's retort. Warnings went on about the damage. Sensing that he was about to fire again, she moved the robot. Another red ball flew by and exploded. _We're playing tag now? _she thought as Jingwei rose higher and flew across the sky. Isaiah unleashed a barrage of explosions in the sky, failing to hit the giant robot. She smiled as the mobile giant dodged everything. An alert and zoomed-in picture on Enabran caught her attention. She saw him cup his hands and say something, then all the light around him turned red. **KRRSSSSS! **A grinding sound came from the top of the mobile giant. Warnings appeared around an image of the mobile giant's right left shoulder. She dodged and the beam went off into space. Some of the armor around her left shoulder had been blown off. "Tskh!" she groaned. "Where are the weapons, Jingwei?" **bong! **The mobile giant started to hover.

"Vacuum Energy Engine activated. Weapons power now available," Jingwei told her.

"About damn time!" she replied. An image of the mobile giant and its weapons list appeared in her head. Many of the weapons were grayed out, but she was happy that she had something to work with. "Activate arm cannons."

Isaiah and Enabran flew towards Jingwei and noticed strange tubes rising from its arms. And that they were pointed at them. "Uh, those look like-" Isaiah was interrupted when **koom! **A burst of semisolid vacuum-energy infused dark matter slammed into him and sent him falling to the ground. "AAAAAH!" he screamed. **wham! KABLOOM! **After slamming him into the ground at 400 kph, the dark matter round exploded, sending a mushroom cloud into the air.

"Isaiah!" screamed Enabran.

"Guided missile barrage," said Genji. Behind the mobile giant, a phalanx of missiles appeared behind the mobile giant's back. Jingwei lifted its left arm upward in a big arc, and the missile flew up from behind its back.

"Oh…" said Enabran. He dove and flew as fast as he could for the ground. Missiles streaked towards him. He flew even faster. **BAKAAAM! **The first missile hit the ground behind him and he outraced the shockwave just above ground level. The rest of the missiles just barely missed him but he was far away from the robot. He spun around, landed on a mountain cliff and jumped back into the sky.

Jingwei landed, its stubs at the ends morphed into large feet-like structures. It walked towards Isaiah as he struggled to get up. Genji smiled at the idea that she could crush her best friend, end his arrogance and excessive pride once and for all. An alert appeared on the right side of the screen. She turned Jingwei to the right. It was Jidod, standing a few meters from the robot, holding his bat'leth.

"How dare you kill my friends!" Jidod shouted. "That was my job!" He shook his bat'leth in anger. "Now you will pay for your crimes! By the honor of the House of Mogh! I will-"

Target locked appeared in letters under Jidod's legs on Genji's screen. Genji thought 'fire' and a shadow rapidly appeared over Jidod. **WHAKAM! **Jingwei's hand swatted him like a bug against the ground. She removed the robot's hand. Jidod was still there, his body spread-eagle, smashed two meters into the ground. The bat'leth had its own hole next to his right hand.

Isaiah took advantage of Jidod's sacrifice and put both hands of the ground. {Replicator mode! Make the biggest, lightest, and sharpest sword you can!} The ground glowed with bright transporter light and sunk into a big crater. The light formed around his hand, then extended. Soon, a gigantic sword the length of the robot's arm appeared in his hands.

"Do you really think-" **WRUNGG! **Before Jingwei could finish its insult, Isaiah swung the sword, smashing it into the left shoulder. Jingwei got knocked back, sparks of energy flying from its wound. The left arm hung limp. "You wanna duel? Let's duel!" The sparks of energy changed color and the wound closed quickly. **shuck BA SWUING! **A slot opened up in the side of Jingwei's right arm, and a blade swung around. Jingwei grasped the tonfa style handle of the weapon and held it in a guard stance.

Back at the Oregon house, the Section 31 team and Oregon's parents continued their debate over the fight they were watching. They watched Isaiah and the robot fly around and block each other's sword strikes, which made loud noises that echoed around the colony.

"Your son is very… clever," said Commander Pence with a delay in his voice. "I certainly would not have chosen this method of combat."

"He seems to be holding his own pretty well," said Gabriel, with a little tinge of pride.

"Any ideas on the human identity of the pilot?" asked Ensign Purcell.

"Given the amount of trash talk, I'd say it's one of the students. Probably a middle schooler."

"Mrs. Oregon!" a woman shouted from the street.

Nana looked around and found the source. It was Mrs. Mogh. "Yes?"

"Have you seen my-" **KABLOOM**! "-son?"

"Uh…" She looked at the battle and looked through her binoculars. "Right now, or in the next two minutes?"

"What's that supposed to mean? Is he in danger?!"

"Uh… check the hospital. He will be there."

The woman swore in Klingon and ran in the direction of the hospital.

Nana took out her communicator. "Emergency medical transport. Target Jidod Mogh." She looked through her binoculars as transporter energy appeared around the hole made by his smooshed body.

Enabran returned and bombarded the mobile giant with his pistol blasts while it was distracted with Isaiah. Inside, Genji was getting annoyed with the straining of the tritanium alloy and the alerts. "Where are the damn shields on this thing?" she said. She saw the monitor with the status report of the mobile giant and saw a white light expand around the edge of the image. The shaking and straining stopped. Genji looked to the right and saw Enabran's blasts get blocked by the shield. "I should've figured this out sooner!"

Enabran stopped firing when he noticed his blasts stopped by a force field around Jingwei's right hand. "Oh, that is unfair. Am I fighting the Enterprise?" he groaned.

{Maybe you should use more power?} asked the shortest Pa Wraith.

{We're a little close to the colony for a Gamma Gun,} he replied.

{Forgot those fleshie bastards!} shouted the tallest Pa Wraith. {Let them diee-oh forbort!}

Enabran saw the barrage of twenty missiles coming at him. "Not this again!" He flew away and dodged missile after missile, then fired beams from his fingers to blow up some more. He turned to face Jingwei, when one slow missile dropped from the sky and exploded in his face. He tumbled out of control around the sky until transport energies whisked him away.

"You basstttaarrddd!" screamed Isaiah. His sword began to glow with plasma as he raised it over his head.

"I can do that too!" shouted Genji. Dark energy poured into the blade in her right hand, making it look like a shadow was flowing over it.

Isaiah flew forward and swung his sword down with all his strength as Jingwei swung upwards. **KKRRSSS! **A loud grinding sound came from their tritanium plasma-coated blades. Isaiah yelled dramatically. So did Genji and the mobile giant. **scink thoom! **The mobile giant's blade got sliced in half and landed with a great crash on the planet. **whamp! **Jingwei caught the blade in its right hand.

"What? Impossible!" shouted Isaiah. The mobile giant yanked the sword from his hand, and a fast jab knocked him senseless and tumbling in the air. _Like getting hit by a hovertrain!_ he groaned. He stopped his tumble and aimed his palms. The robot aimed its cannons at him.

**GRRRRSSSS! **A phaser beam, fired from space, cut the air and ground between them.

"This is the Enterprise," said Captain Harriman. "Cease your fighting and land at the spaceport."

Genji groaned. "Hmph. I don't need to listen to Starfleet," she replied.

"Don't make me tell your parents, Genji Quan," said Commander Pence.

"Genji?" said Isaiah over the radio. "We've been fighting you the whole time?"

"Fine. Whatever. Mobile Giant Jingwei, preparing to land." Genji piloted the mobile giant past the stunned Isaiah.

"What? How'd you get a mobile giant? Who built them?" Isaiah asked as she flew by.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Genji chided him as she approached the landing spot. She pointed her sword down and the broken piece flew back and reattached itself.

Meeting room, Spaceport,

five minutes later.

Irritated, Genji crossed her arms as she sat down. Two guards with the same black badge stood behind her, making her feel like an innocent accused of a crime. There are no rules about the use of ancient war machines outside of city limits, right?

"So where did you find this thing?" asked Commander Pence.

"Found it in that weird mountain outside town," said Genji. She shook some dust out of her long straight hair. "I kind of...fell into the cockpit."

"Uh huh…" Commander Pence looked at her. "How did you learn how to fight in it so quickly?"

"You could say it...taught me, how."

"It taught you?"

"Something like that. I'm not a cyberneticist. I'm a high school student."

Commander Pence raised an eyebrow. "Can it teach me how to operate it?"

"I don't think it wants to."

"Really now?" he raised the eyebrow again. "Is it a matter of effort or a technical matter? Or do you want to pilot it?"

Genji looked at him without any fear. "I think it would be best for everyone around here if you let me continue to pilot it."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Commander Pence crossed his arms.

Genji smiled and tapped a finger on the table. "It's supposed to be a wish. A wish for a safe and stable colony."

"And how does that involve an ancient war robot? And why should we let a high school student pilot it?"

"Let me join the hero team. With Jingwei on the team, we'll be unstoppable!"

Commander Pence smiled and sat down. "Music to my ears. Tell me more about Jingwei."

"For starters, it doesn't have its full weapons array. And it could use some access to the Starfleet network."

"You want it to make coffee for you as well?" Genji smiled after Pence said that.

Epilogue #1

The engineers in the now sealed-off Replicator bay #3 looked at the build order from Commander Pence on their datapads. They also looked at the attachment ports and software specifications on Jingwei. And they were confused.

"This is going to be a wild assignment," said the human engineer.

"Quite," said the Vulcan engineer. "I have never built a, what is this? A 'phaser cannon' before. I do not believe anyone has ever built a hand-carried starship weapon before."

"I've never built a phaser cannon or a warp nacelle outside of a shipyard before either." He held up the pad to the overhead light, perhaps in the vain thought that the build orders would make more sense if light shined on the back of them like a lottery scratcher ticket. "And how does he expect us to attach the nacelles? We can't fit that thing in here.

The Vulcan looked around the room. "Perhaps we can wheel them out on a cart and the robot can attach them itself?"

The human engineer shrugged and sat down at the programming station. The Vulcan followed suit.

Epilogue #2

The following Monday, the students of the colony rushed off to school. It was another day for them, with nothing special on the schedule. Many chatted with friends or relatives as they walked to school. The students arriving at the high school, however, got more to talk about than expected.

As usual, Isaiah flew in and landed by the classroom. He had a bandage around his forehead and right hand. Enabran flew in from a different direction and landed by him. He had a bandage on his head and a knee brace. They looked at each other with their usual amount of friendly dislike of each other. The students stood around nervously, as fights and displays of power broke out between the two frequently. A bright light appeared to their right and a portal opened up. Jidod walked in, clutching his bat'leth in one hand since he had his other hand in a sling. He was walking slowly since he had a cast on his foot. An ice pack was attached to his sling. After the portal closed, he put the bat'leth on his back and the ice pack back on his head. He looked at his rivals with irritation. He was about to step forward when a dark shadow fell over the school. They looked up and the other students did as well.

A breeze blew over the ground as the shadow grew larger and darker. **whum! **A loud sound came from the grounds by the high school building. The students stood around, watching the scene with awe and inspiration in their eyes. For it was time, the time everyone knew was coming, had finally arrived. It was time for Genji to come to school.

The fully repaired and upgraded Jingwei landed and kneeled on one knee. The bottom third of the robot's armor plating detached and slid upward. A large brown sphere slid out of the opening on a set of rails. The sphere retracted front to back, revealing Genji sitting in a comfy chair. She jumped and let the gravity field of the robot gently lowered her, with her bookbag trailing above her. The cockpit closed and returned to the inside of the robot. She walked towards the heroes and stood in front of them with hands on her hips.

"From now on, I'm team leader," she said with a demanding tone. "You answer to me."

The boys were not pleased and spoke over each other in disagreement. "No way Jose! I would never be led by an Earth woman! I am far better at strategy than all of you put together!" they whined and complained.  
Genji quickly grew irritated. She smacked her right fist against the left palm. The robot did the same. **whooom! **The ground around the school shook from the impact. All the heroes except Genji reflexively flinched away from the robot. "Do you need any further reminders of my strength?" Not a peep from the other heroes. "Good." She walked inside, her ponytail and bookbag playfully swinging in the air as she walked by her frightened and thoroughly beaten subordinates.

[Music suggestion: DBZ ending music]

Genji has made her play for leadership of the New Busan heroes. Her power is frightening, even to beings of their power. Will they accept her as the newest member? Do they even have a choice? I mean, that is a really big robot. Tune in next week for another thrilling episode of...Drago...er, Star Trek: Colony!


	15. Who Wields Whom?

Opening sequence: Same as Ep 14, but after the music starts, replace one of the Borg fight scenes with the scene where Jingwei smashed Jidod into the ground. At the black background with the ksst! sound, a semi-transparent image of the symbol of the Klingon Empire drifts by from right to left. The show title appears with the main characters standing in a line. Instead of Genji, a human-sized Jingwei is in the leader position next to Austin. The screen flashes for an instant and Jingwei is glowing red. Cut to commercial.

Commander Pence's office, city hall,

8:00 AM

The door swung open and Austin stepped inside. The security guard stood up from his creaky chair where he'd been sleeping most of the night and lifted the phaser rifle off his lap.

"You're here early, sir," said the guard.

"Evil works 24-7, Mr. Jang."

"Weekends, too?"

"Oh yeah." He pressed his badge to the office door. "Especially weekends." The door swung open. The office had many hardened tables arranged like barricades around the room. Ensign Purcell and the night shift were leaving the office when he arrived. "Anything very important happened?"

"Just a couple of cave creature sightings in the northern woods. Other than that, a quiet shift," said Ensign Purcell. He yawned and walked for the door. "You also got a medium-priority message from Starfleet Security."

"Did you read it?" asked Austin.

"No, sir. It was quote for your eyes only unquote."

Austin got a cup of Klingon coffee made at the replicator and checked the identities of his daytime team, then opened the message from Chekov. Our sources on Qo'noS say the KI has learned of your hero team's battles. There's a plan to take back the Kahless bat'leth. You should be prepared for Klingon incursions in the next 2 weeks. Austin read the message again. _So much for a boring assignment_, he thought.

Jidod Mogh's house,

that night

"One of the security officers told me," said Jidod to his father. His father was not in the room, but on planet Khitomer, a neutral planet near the border with the Romulan and Klingon empires. Even his presence on the viewscreen made Jidod a little calmer.

"The hand of the Federation reaches deep into our territory," explained Jidod's father. "No matter. Ever since you claimed the blade, have you felt the envy of others for it?"

"Yes, father. Mostly from my rivals. But they remain suspicious of the blade. Almost fearful of it."

"The abilities you've gained from it do not match the historical records or any legends. I do not think the empire itself will claim the bat'leth." He looked around the dark room he was in. "The leaders probably think it's a hoax."

"So what should I do, father?"

"You might have to fight to keep the blade in a new Age of Ascension Ceremony." He waved his hands around to demonstrate. "Instead of being hit with sticks or crawling through sharp stones, you'll probably have to fight to keep it."

"I can handle it. I won't let Kahless down."

"That is only half the problem," Jidod's father replied. A Klingon yelled at another Klingon behind him. He started speaking again. "If one of those challengers win, they will certainly try to become the Torchbearer and start a civil war or even make war against the Romulans."

"That sounds bad, father."

The Klingons behind him started looking at the screen. "You have to win, son. For the good of the empire."

"For the Empire!" screamed the Klingons standing behind him.

"But we're joining the Federation, father."

"For the Federation!" screamed the Klingons behind him.

"Will you ding**** shut up?!," said Jidod's father in Klingon. "I'm almost done here!" He looked back at the screen. "Whatever happened to headphones anyway?" He shook his head. "Look, son. Find someone to train you. Maybe those crazy rivals of yours."

"I understand. Goodbye, father."

"Good fighting son. May the light of Kahless lead you to victory!"

"TO VICTORY!" shouted the Klingons behind him.

Jiodod's father turned around. "You daylight drunk mother****** just got on my last nerve!" shouted his father and the connection dropped.

Jidod went through the possibilities in his mind. _Who can train me here? Genji is not a sword fighter and Jingwei is too big. I'll get stepped on again. Enabran is powered by evil. He's not a swordsman either. Isaiah is a rank beginner, but he might be the only one who can use a blade. I should ask the other men in town but they'll get ambitious. But maybe..._

He was about to pick up the phone when he heard a knock at the door. He got up from the computer and opened the door. An older, wet Klingon man stood at the front step, rain pouring down. Lightning bolts nearby lit up his features. He had long gray hair, ridges going up his forehead to the top of his head where his hair started. He had on Klingon battle armor, but it had a styling Jidod was not familiar with. "Who are you?" he asked the man.

"I hear you are in need of a trainer," said the Klingon warrior. "May I come in?"

Two weeks later,

The mayor continued to play with her action figures as the office around her was a madhouse.

"Ohmigawd!" screamed a woman. "The Klingons are here!"

"But I'm a Klingon!" said the Klingon city council leader.

"The evil Klingons are here!" the woman screamed as she ran for the bathroom.

"Hooray! More fighting!" the Klingon city council leader cheered and left to get his bat'leth.

"Madam Mayor," said Mr. Smithers, "the Klingon ship is on line one and Starfleet Command is on line two."

"Bah!" She threw her toys over her desk and pouted. "Fine! Line one!"

The viewscreen switched from colony management info to a close-up view of the Klingon ship, then a view of the bridge. "This is Captain K'worom Zulor, house of Vrag! I demand landing rights and access to the bat'leth of Kahless!" the captain demanded.

"NO!" said the young mayor. She lifted her nose up and looked away from the screen in disgust.

"How dare you deny me, human rugrat!" the captain shouted.

"You interrupted my playtime! Go home and kahless yourselves!"

"Madam Mayor!" said Mr. Smithers. "Please stay calm!"

"Why is a girl in charge?" asked the irritated captain. He looked at his crew in the poorly lit bridge.

"The Vulcans used to call us weird," said the Klingon first officer.

"You will give us what we want or we will destroy your colony and take what we want from the remains of your charred corpses!" the captain ordered.

Mr. Smithers tugged on his tie to loosen it. But the mayor was not paying attention. She looked at the angry Klingon with his bugged-out eyes and tried to imitate him. When that didn't garner a response, she said "We have heroes who will stop you! So tthppttt!"

"Heroes?" asked the captain.

"The others from the video," the first officer responded.

"Yes, heroes! They will break your bones and sink your battleships. So buzz off! THHPPTT!"

"Never have I endured a diplomatic afford such as this!" the captain exclaimed.

"We should respond in kind!" the first officer said. Mr. Smithers put his hands on his face.

"TTHHBBTT!" the captain replied.

Jidod and the older Klingon walked in. "Ms. Mayor!" said Jidod. "Let them land."

The mayor stopped spitting at the screen. "Why?" she asked.

"I will handle them."

"We will handle the matter peacefully," said the older Klingon with gray hair.

The mayor crossed her arms and looked at the captain. "Fine! You can land! But you must bring me Klingon ice cream!"

"We don't have ice cream!"

"Then you can't land! PPTHTTP!" She hung up on the Klingon ship.

"Why is she in charge?" asked the older Klingon to Jidod.

"No one except her wanted the job," Jidod explained.

Isaiah's house,

same time.

The colony science team took a sip of their coffee, then continued to talk sense to Isaiah.

"You need to stop making so many craters on the planet," the new leader Jee-Jee explained. "We might be losing valuable scientific data every time you and your team punch a hole in the ground."

Isaiah put his hands on his hips. "You make it sound like I want to be punched or nuked into the ground!"

"Well, no, but you need to learn how to block."

"Or dodge," said Jones. "Dodging would help, too."

"I can't believe this!" Isaiah complained. "Other than cave monsters, abandoned cities, and apparently ancient mobile giants, there ain't crap on this planet! What are you worried about?"

"Besides you triggering a planetquake, or awakening another nest of cave creatures, or finding another death machine...oh nothing in particular," said Jee-Jee.

Isaiah stood up. He was about to tell them to take a hike when a call came in. He picked up his communicator. "What?!" he asked.

"You're needed at the open space by the soccer field, pronto," said Mr. Smithers.

"Why? Are the Klingons invading?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes," Mr. Smithers answered straightly.

Isaiah's eyes grew larger. He sighed. "Alright. Give me a minute. Let me put some pants on."

Ms. Talllk's high school class, at the soccer field

a half hour later.

"Pay attention, class!" Ms. Talllk shouted to her growing, enlarging, rearming class of 40 students. "Today's lesson is apparently on rapid construction." She pointed to the field. "In about ten minutes, we are going to receive a transport of construction materials." She pointed to three adults next to her. "You're going to help these construction experts here build something."

"What are we building?" asked Genji.

"Something called a tournament stage. The Klingons coming here want to have -"

"Wait! I want to say it!" shouted Earl.

"Say what, Earl?"

"Wait for it..." He jumped and stretched his arms out "MORTAL KOMBAT doo doo doo du du du TEST YOUR MIGHT!"

The construction experts shrugged their shoulders or looked confused. Ms. Talllk shook her head and muttered: "Oh fu** nardcrap no." She stopped muttering and looked at the class. "Look, just go where they want you to go and do what they want you to do! Maybe you'll learn something today!"

And so they went to work, and by that, they let Isaiah do the key task of generating a large stage from the ground up to a meter in height, Enabran levitating the walls and roof frame into position so the students could hold it in place and attach, and Genji the job of adding the Klingon symbols with a can of spray paint. Once those key bits were put in place, the kids learned how to attach photonic wiring and helped install the lights, comms gear, and a few Section 31 hidden cameras (don't tell their moms). Ms. Talllk caught a group of lazy Deltan girls fixing their makeup behind the dojo and made them carry in the combat mats. Everything was complete in less than an hour with the only hiccup being Enabran nailgunning Earl's hand to a support post when he wouldn't stop shouting "MORTAL KOMBAT!". It was declared an 'accidental discharge'.

Once all the colonists left, a portal opened up and Jidod and the older Klingon walked in. He wore some recently made Klingon battle armor, and his heart was as hard as the material covering him. Jidod knelt down and the older Klingon stood by his side as they watched the door. A few moments passed and the first of the Klingon warriors walked inside with their usual prideful boasting, though some were solemn and silent. They walked towards Jidod and his new master, bat'leths and blades in their hands. They stopped in front of the calm and focused teenager holding the bat'leth.

"I am K'mtar. My charge, Jidod of the House of Mogh and wielder of the bat'leth of Kahless, stands ready," said the older Klingon warrior. "State your business, warriors of the Empire!"

One of the warriors stepped forward, a Klingon man not carrying any weapons. "I Captain K'worom Zulor, house of Vrag, bring to you fifty of the bravest warriors ever gathered in the Klingon Empire!" He banged his chest twice and the men behind him did as well. "We, the warriors of the Empire, demand you hand over the bat'leth without delay. For the Federation has made you soft and weak! Only a true son of Qo'noS should carry this blade!" The men behind him grunted in approval.

"Really?" Jidod said, lifting his head up to look at his competition. "The empire only has fifty brave warriors? Captain, I have faced the great terrors of this galaxy thrice with this blade and brought them down. Your men are hardly worth the challenge."

"How dare you speak ill of us and the empire?!" shouted the captain.

"You may have this bat'leth, in the words of the humans, when you pry it from my cold, dead, fingers." Jidod stood up.

"You heard the warrior," said K'mtar. "Each of you may fight him, one on one. The first person to kill him wins the bat'leth."

"Music to my ears," said a human voice standing at the rear. The Klingons turned around. It was a male human. It was Isaiah.

"You cannot participate!" shouted a Klingon. "This is a Klingon affair! You are just a human!"

Isaiah smiled wickedly. He pointed his palm at the floor. One of the pads hovered in the air and he moved it out of the way. Then he knelt and touched the ground that he raised and smoothed out earlier. The ground glowed and a pillar of light raised as he stood up. The light soon stopped and in its place was a duranium blade about two meters long. He took out of his pocket a length of cord and quickly wrapped it around the handle. "Good thing I'm more than human, then." He swung the blade, making a 'schwing' sound with its first movement in the air. "Who's ready to die first?"

"This is a trap!" shouted the captain. "Kill them all!" He stepped to the side of the stage as his warriors readied themselves. "First person to kill the traitor wins the blade!"

"Wreck these fools, Jidod," K'mtar said as he stepped back.

"With. Pleasure," Jidod replied as he got into the braced stance K'mtar showed him.

The first wave of three mustached Klingon warriors approached Jidod. _Remember your training. _He saw the closest warrior raise his bat'leth for an overhead strike, and the other two on his sides held theirs to the side for a side swing. _Hmph. Amateurs. _He swung up, to the left and back to the right with the bat'leth in his left arm. ching ching ching thuck thuck thcuk! The bat'leths flew from their hands and got stuck in the roof's pillars. The Klingons looked confused and alarmed at Jidod. Jidod growled slightly. They nodded and backed away.

Isaiah, meanwhile, fought with the opposite; a total lack of grace in his movement. Raw hatred and envy fueled his movements as he hacked his way through the weak opposition. The strong metal of the bat'leths got sliced like butter, along with the flesh of the Klingons, by Isaiah's powerful swings. But this method left him open to attacks from behind. brtss! Attacks that would bounce effortlessly off his shields. Unlike Jidod, Isaiah ran and spun around the room, slashing at anyone in his way. He jumped off pillars and fell into crowds of Klingon warriors, spinning his body and blade at inhuman speeds. Limbs got sliced off their bodies at a ridiculous rate.

Jidod continued to hold his position, but the number of dismembered limbs and screams certainly caught his attention. A young warrior holding a d'k tahg knife ran towards him to stab him. Jidod barely noticed him as he went for the stab. He used his enhanced speed to spin to his left, catch the young warrior's wrist with his right arm as the stab missed, pull the warrior's arm down and twist around his back, causing him to drop the d'k tahg knife. "How?" the warrior groaned. A swift kick in the ass sent him tumbling away from Jidod. He heard footsteps from his right, now that his back was to the other fighters. For other fighters this would be a mistake. He looked and saw a Klingon but no bat'leth. _A low swing! _He turned right and leaned to the side, narrowly dodging the upward swing by the warrior. He continued the turn and spun his bat'leth back towards his arm, then punched the warrior with the flat side of the bat'leth in his hand. The warrior hit the pad, knocked clean out.

Isaiah took some deep breaths. A pile of fallen Klingons laid around him. He heard a thump and turned around. A smaller but equally impressive group of groaning Klingons laid around Jidod. He looked at the calm Klingon and the anger grew stronger in his heart. He turned and walked on top of the fallen, crying Klingons, towards his ultimate opponent, their cries growing louder as he stepped on them. He swung the blood off his blade and pointed it off to the right. "You know why I've come," he said as he approached.

Jidod started walking towards him. "You have enough power. You do not need more," said Jidod.

"I need more, more power, to protect this colony. I can end this in one strike. Give it to me or I'll slice it and you in half."

Jidod smirked. "Bring it." He saw Isaiah raise the blade above his head and knew what was coming. _Of course. Another amateur. _He raised the bat'leth of Kahless above his head as well.

"I'M SENDING YOU TO KLINGON HELL! LIGHT!SPEED! STRRIIKKKEE!" Isaiah leaped towards Jidod and swung his blade as fast as he could. whssthoom!

Jidod stepped out of the way just as the speedy blade began to swing. He swung his blade down right at the spot he wanted to, just in front of Isaiah's chest and past his arms. clang! It hit the ground.

Nnneoww! Isaiah felt something weird in his body. The information display along the edges of his vision disappeared. He noticed the shield aura vanish. "What?! My shields are down!" he yelled. He knew he was in trouble so he began to tug on the sword. It was lodged past the pads and stuck in the ground.

Jidod, knowing it was his chance. slid his hand up the handle and spun the three blades up, then swung up as he twisted back. sccruuch! The middle blade sliced into Isaiah's chest and cut through his right collarbone then the side blade grazed Isaiah's hips then sliced into his stomach and up, cutting through his ribs and valuable equipment.

Isaiah let go of the blade and fell face first on the damaged floor as blood, protomatter, and other fluids poured out of him. Emergency alerts echoed in his stunned mind. He struggled to move, the pain in his body overcoming his resolve. He looked up at Jidod.

Jidod looked down his shoulder at the fallen, dying human. "Pathetic human. You thought you were powerful. Your moves are sloppy and untrained. You aren't worthy of the bat'leth of Kahless, the heart of Genji, let alone your current powers. You disgust me." He turned his back on his dying former friend.

"H..how..?" Isaiah asked.

"You failed to notice, didn't you? Or maybe you did and that's why you wanted the blade..." Jidod looked across his shoulder, hatred in his eyes. "There is more to power than how hard you swing your sword. Cross me again and you won't live to regret it." He nodded to K'mtar.

K'mtar whipped out his communicator. "Computer, emergency medical transport. Everyone except myself and Jidod Mogh."

"No..." said Isaiah but the transport beam enveloped him.

Town hospital, emergency care ward,

6 hours later.

Isaiah heard crying in the darkness. _I'm...dead? That's my mom's voice. She's crying at my funeral. _The light of the room began to seep into his eyes. _They put me in a cheap coffin?_ He opened his eyes. _I'm not dead!_ He felt a lot of pain across his chest. "Oohhh...mom?" He saw his father standing by his feet and his mother sitting along the bed, her face in her arms, crying. She stopped and raised her head.

"Son! Oh my!" Nana said. "I'm so happy! They told me you might have been in a coma!"

"What...happened?" he weakly asked.

"Let me explain," his father began. He tapped his son's leg with his right arm. "You were leaking everything all over the place. The doctors panicked and beamed us over here. They stitched you up, beamed you to our sarcophagus, and we had to run you through part of the empowering procedure again, then we beamed you back here for the rest of the medical work." He grunted. "We had to use up all of our transporter credits to save you. So no late transports to school."

"Honey!" Nana whined. She looked at her fallen son. "You're so reckless with your powers! We're getting complaints!"

"Why? What'd I do?" he asked.

"Lose your memory?" his father asked rhetorically. He turned around and slid the curtain open. Around the room were other beds. Doctors wearing surgical garb treated many of the Klingons seriously wounded by Isaiah. Their pained moans filled the room as limbs were surgically reattached, wounds stitched and pain relief administered. "Any of this ring a bell?"

"Uh...some..."

"Son, you're losing control." He pulled the curtain back and knelt down. "Your implants are pretty beat up." He stood back up. "You keep this up you're going to get yourself killed."

"Please don't die doing something you'll regret. Please," said Nana. "We want you to be a hero. That means being a good person. Not a power-mad lunatic."

"OK, mom, I understand." He leaned his head back.

"Really, Isaiah?" asked his father. "Because we've gone past the turning point. You can't go back to being fully human anymore. We need to know you're going to be OK before we upgrade you further."

He sighed and looked at his father. "You're right. I need to... uh, get smarter." He leaned back again and looked at the ceiling.

"C'mon, Gabe. Let's let him rest."

"In this triage room? Good luck with that." Nana stood up. "I think he should see what his power can do in the wrong hands." And with that, they walked away from their son.

"That's the wrong hand!" screamed a Klingon. "This is not my foot!" screamed another Klingon.

Isaiah stared at the ceiling, ignoring the pained moans and Klingons swearing around him. _They're right. Jidod's right. I have stronger enemies. I need training. I need to get stronger, faster, better. I can't do it on my own. I need a mentor. But who?_ He thought back to the moment he stepped inside. _Jidod had a mentor..._


	16. Growth Part II

Opening Sequence: Same as episode 15, but add in a few clips from the previous battle. At the black background, an image of a Borg drone floats by from right to left at the same time as the kzzst! sound effect. Next, the usual character screen loads and then cut to commercial.

Jidod's dojo,

Two days after the duel.

The door to the dojo swung open as K'mtar was showing Jidod a cutting motion with the bat'leth. They turned around and saw Isaiah at the entrance. He sauntered in and looked around.

"What happened to the other Klingons?" he asked them.

"They went home," explained K'mtar. "They whined like babies about how this wasn't the real bat'leth of Kahless because it has magic. Utter nonsense." He spun his bat'leth around and held it vertical, resting the blade just above the floor. "Now, what do you want?"

Isaiah looked at Jidod. "I knew it! This old man's been training you!" he said. He looked at the old warrior. "Can you teach me, too? How to fight and all that stuff?"

Jidod grunted and rested his bat'leth on his shoulder. "No way in all the hells. You need to learn how to fight like a human first," he told him.

"Now, hold on, Jidod," K'mtar said as he stepped towards Isaiah. "Let's see what the human can do."

"Yes!" Isaiah cheered.

"Without powers or shields."

"Oh," Isaiah suddenly was not so happy.

K'mtar passed Jidod his bat'leth. "Tell you what, young human," he said with a cheerful tone. "If you can knock me down with a single blow, I'll train you. But you'll have to hit me as hard as you can." He lowered his hands to his sides and smiled.

"That I can do!" He ran at the old Klingon warrior and threw the strongest right hook he had ever thrown at normal strength. Whap! K'mtar's head swung back from the blow. But he did not fall. _Ha! ut oh!_ Isaiah realized that this task will be harder than expected.

K'mtar smiled. "Not bad, for a human. But not enough." Isaiah pulled back his fist. K'mtar flinched with his left arm and Isaiah raised an arm to block. Whump! A strong right hook knocked the hapless teen off his feet and across the pads.

"ACK!" Isaiah yelped.

K'mtar walked towards him. "Is that all you got?"

Jidod stepped back slightly. "I told you he was weak."

Isaiah got up and lept at K'mtar to drop-kick him. K'mtar merely sidestepped out of the way and the youth kicked nothing but air and landed hard on his butt.

Jidod clapped. "Not bad, for a human weakling."

"Not so easy without special powers, isn't it?" asked K'mtar. He didn't have a sarcastic inflection in his voice, but Isaiah was irritated nonetheless.

Isaiah punched the pad and stood up. "THAT'S IT!" He stood up. He swung his fists back and yelled "AAAAAHH!" and felt energy coursing through his body.

Jidod lowered his bat'leth and took a fighting stance. K'mtar waved a hand at him and then looked at Isaiah. "It will not help you," he told the angry child.

"I'll show you my strength!" Isaiah shouted. He hovered briefly and dove at the Klingon warrior, who ducked under him.

whap. Isaiah felt the warrior grab his leg. But he was too slow to respond. The warrior pulled him back and punched him in the small of his back, slamming him back to the floor. The air left his lung from such a strong hit. He caught his breath and felt himself moving. He opened his eyes and saw the room spinning. It soon dawned on him that it was HE that was spinning. The warrior let go.

CRAAACK! Isaiah went through a pillar head-first and slammed into the pads again. Damage alerts filled his vision but he had trouble seeing them because everything was blurry and full of stars. Still, he stood up, even though it was hard to think. whump! Another fist hit him in the head. He didn't feel much of that. thwuack! That was a hard kick to the groin. He bent forward and whined sharply. That was when the large hand of the Klingon warrior wrapped around his neck. Off the ground he went, face first. WHAMM! The Klingon slammed him into the pads as hard as he could. He yelled in pain as everywhere hurt. The warrior refused to stop. He lifted Isaiah by the shirt to a sitting up position and punched him repeatedly in the head. He saw Isaiah lift his left hand in an attempt to fire. He quickly caught the boy's left hand and swung down with his right hand. snap! Broke his arm with one swing. The boy yelped and raised his right hand. Snap! The Klingon warrior broke that one too. Isaiah turned over to protect his broken arms, tears streaming down his face. "AARGGHH! STOP!" he yelled.

"Stop?" asked K'mtar. "There is no 'stop' in battle!" Isaiah couldn't hear him because of his cries. He grabbed Isaiah's neck and squeezed, making him stop. "Boy, you lack discipline and foresight." He held his free hand up to Isaiah's face. "These gloves can pass through Starfleet shields. You should've realized something was wrong the moment I stopped Jidod. But you're too reliant on your power." Whap! He headbutted the angry teen and let go. "Do not enter this training room again until you are ready to learn." As Isaiah struggled to breathe, K'mtar took out his communicator. "Computer. Emergency medical transport, one human." For the second time this week, Isaiah left the building humiliated and crippled.

The rocky wilderness northwest of the colony,

2 days later,

Isaiah landed at the edge of the forest, on top of a rocky ridge overlooking the vast southern wilderness. Some large boulder flanked the edge of the forest to the north but overall the place was flat and relatively featureless. He took off his shirt and unwrapped the bandages around his ribs and arms. _This is where I'll train. I won't let them beat my ass up anymore. I will become stronger!_

The montage music played in his head as he went to work, throwing 100 power punches at boulders, kicking boulders 100 times, and doing 100 pushups. After taking a satisfying break, he touched a chewed up boulder and turned it into a sword. "And now, I will use this sword to cut a tree down!" he said to himself as he walked over to the thickest tree at the edge of the woods. Unbeknownst to him, someone in the forest watched from the shadows.

whhs thuk! The sword only went a few centimeters into the two-meter-thick tree. He growled and swung his sword harder. whhss thuk! To the exact same result. He took a deep breath, changed positions and swung with both hands. thuk! It went a half-centimeter deeper. He tried floating, changing grips, and even spinning. But he still could not cut the tree down with his sword.

"RRRGGHH! Why can't I cut this tree down with my sword?!" He angrily yelled.

"It's a tree," said a voice with a slightly mechanical tone, "and that is a sword." Isaiah heard the voice and looked to the woods. A figure stepped from behind one of the thick coniferous trees. It was a Borg drone. This drone had a smaller and more rectangular eye covering that was lacking the long extension other drones had. Instead, it had a scanning laser. The drone had stepped out from the tree with arms crossed. Isaiah noticed that it had two gray arms with exposed flesh, making it very different from the one-armed Borg he fought earlier. "You can't swing it fast enough to cut straight through something that thick."

"Hey!" Isaiah pointed the sword at him. "I cut through Jingwei's sword! And this is wood! This should be easy."

"I saw that," said the drone. "Are you using the same sword with the same mass, and swinging with the same momentum?"

Isaiah looked down when he realized he was wasting his time. Then a lightbulb went off in his mind. He looked up. "Wait a minute! Aren't you one of the bad guys?"

The drone raised its hands up to its shoulders to signal a peaceful intent. "Settle down, hero of the Federation. We come in peace."

"We?"

"Well, just me, right now. I used to be a colonist." The drone walked down the hill towards him. "I was assimilated during the battle. I do not remember much of my past life, but I seem to recall you."

Isaiah lowered his sword and looked at the drone carefully. "Mr. Zelenko? You used to play chess with my dad, Gabriel."

"So you do remember me?" The drone shook his head. "Well, that life is over for me now. Call me Eight of Dave."

Isaiah looked at him with squinted eyes. "Why Eight of Dave? What does that mean?"

"We are a hive mind, but you blew up the ship before we connected to the collective. Our identities fragmented. We were lost until we met and linked minds with the drone called Dave. There are ten of us Free Borg under Dave. I was the eighth to join, so call me Eight of Dave."

"That...makes...sense."

Eight of Dave walked over to the tree. "I fail to understand why you want to cut this tree down."

Isaiah raised the sword straight up. "I need to get stronger. This is part of my training," he explained.

"You have the ability to fire numerous energy attacks and you can hit starships. Why do you need to get stronger?"

Isaiah threw the sword down in anger. "I can't fight well! I keep getting beat up by weaker opponents and Klingons! I need to learn how to fight!"

"Perhaps we can help each other," said Eight of Dave. He lowered his arms and took out a piece of paper from his torn pants pocket around his leg armor. "Take this to my wife, and in exchange, I will train you."

Isaiah looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You're a robot thing. How are you going to train me?"

"Me personally? No. Like any good cybernetic organism, I do one thing really well."

"What's that?"

"Access information." He looked at Isaiah. "I am about to send a subspace message to your onboard computer. It will be a build schematic for your industrial replicators. Build fifty of those devices and bring them back here after you drop off the letter."

Isaiah took the letter. "So all I have to do is give her this and make those things for you, and you'll do what exactly?"

Eight of Dave smiled. "I will set up a combat training program for you."

Isaiah turned around. "I feel like I'm making a deal with the devil here. Ah well. Gotta break an omelette to make some eggs."

"It is the other way-" but Eight of Dave's explanation was cut off as Isaiah flew away.

Nondescript building near the replicator bays,

twenty minutes later.

In the lobby of the unofficially named "Hero HQ" as Isaiah called it, Isaiah argued with Genji, his parents, and the Section 31 team. None of whom were impressed with his explanation.

"Look, trust me on this," said Isaiah. "I think he's being honest."

"You want us to trust him?" asked Gabriel.

"Yes."

"Our friend who was turned into a Borg against his will?"

"Yes.

"Who's now part of a hive mind started by Dave?"

"Yes."

"The same Dave who tried to draw donuts with the hovercar?" asked Nana.

"Yes."

"And he told you to make things in the replicator?" asked Genji.

"Yes."

"Do you know what those things are?"

"Yes...maybe. I don't know. Can you repeat the question?" Genji suddenly appeared furious to him.

"Look, kid," said Commander Pence, "how do you know he's not trying to set you up?"

Tired with the argument, Isaiah turned around. "You're not the boss of me! I'm going to do these things and get stronger! If it's a trap, I'll blow it up! What could they possibly do to hurt me?!"

"Stop thinking of yourself and think of the colony!" Genji ordered.

"I AM thinking of the colony! Bye!" He jumped and flew for the exit. ssshhh! The door quickly swung open with a millisecond to spare. He flew around the neighborhood until he found Mr. Zelenko's house and dropped the letter on the ground before heading to the replicator bay.

At the replicator bay, he encountered a problem; to make the devices without burning through the energy budget, he would need to provide some important materials the replicator could use to make the stuff. So he flew to the wastelands and back with boulders, which he then transmuted into various materials for the replicator. A few moments later, he had his devices. He happily carried them out in a box that rattled with every step.

Genji was at the entrance to the replicator bay when he walked out with his rattling box. "Do you even know what those things do?"

"Look, BOSS! If it were dangerous, the computer would've said something or stopped me!" Isaiah said. "It didn't say anything. So I'm right for once!"

"So what does it do then?"

"Make me stronger! That's ALL that matters!" And with that, he walked past her and flew off.

Genji saw him fly away from the village. "This obsession is going to get him killed," she muttered.

Isaiah flew back to the training spot. Sure enough, Eight of Dave was standing there, holding a bag. A few of the boulders were moved back and the ground around the area was smoothed and leveled out. Isaiah landed with a thud next to Eight of Dave. It had a bag by its feet and lifted it up.

"I brought the stuff. What do you want me to do with it?"

The drone reached inside his bag and pulled out a handful of hexagon shaped objects about the size of an eraser. "We must put these power packs into the devices. Think of them as batteries."

Isaiah made the box hover to the side. He reached in and took out a device. He found the lid and slid it off. He took one of the packs and examined it. "Which end goes in first?"

After they put in the power packs and arranged the devices around the training ground, Eight of Dave stepped behind the row of devices. Isaiah stayed inside. "Now what?" asked Isaiah.

Eight of Dave looked around the training ground they made. "I believe everything is in order," it said. It pushed a button on the covering around its ear. vvssss! A transparent shield wall went up around the perimeter. It pressed another button. A light glowed in front of Isaiah, then quickly took shape in an unexpected form. It was a human male about the same height and weight as him, wearing a kung fu outfit.

"Wow what is this?" asked Isaiah. He waved his hand around but the man did not respond.

"This is Borg technology. We call this a solid hologram. The solid hologram projector is keyed to the information of human fighting styles I downloaded from the Federation's database."

"Wow, you can do that?"

"Of course. We are Dave. That is all you need to know." Eight of Dave walked around the edge of the shield wall. "This shield wall will keep your power contained so you won't have to worry about collateral damage."

"Nice…"

"But even it has limits. Try not to use anything greater than 10 kilotons in here."

"Right…"

"Based on what the hive mind has gathered, you are not the sort that follows instructions well."

"Yes I do!" Isaiah pouted. "Go here, blow that up, I know how to listen!"

Eight of Dave pushed a button on his ear again. "How are your grades this term?"

"Uh…"

"Precisely. Therefore, my research tells me you are the sort that learns best by doing."

"Hit it on the nose, Mr. Eight. Can we get started now?"

"As you wish."

wap! The kung-fu hologram stepped forward and struck him in the head with a whip blow from its right hand. Isaiah stepped back from the blow. He shook his head and smiled, then threw a punch. pa-wap wap wap! His punch got blocked by the man's left arm and he got struck in the jaw, chest, and nose. Irritated, Isaiah rushed forward and punched the hologram in the chest as hard as he could. After some soft resistance, his fist went through the hologram's body like a knife through butter. The hologram vanished.

"That was level 1," said Eight of Dave. "Next is level two." Eight of Dave crossed his arms as the same kung fu hologram reformed. It moved into a bow drawing stance.

_Guess I better take this seriously, _Isaiah thought. {Computer, increase power to fists and structural integrity fields, and everything I need to fight.}

{Acknowledged. Why did you not think of this before?}

{Don't distract me with com-ploof!} The hologram had jumped to change positions, then struck him on the outer left leg, then tilted forward and struck him in the chest and face with both hands while balancing on one leg.

It took a minute to deal with the level two hologram, using a power punch to eliminate it.

"Level 3," said Eight of Dave. Unlike the other levels, this one actively dodged and blocked Isaiah's attacks. After getting his bell rang by a strong kick to the side of the head, Isaiah had enough. tsssh! A phaser beam from his hand destroyed that hologram.

"Not good enough," said Eight of Dave. "Level 3 times 2." It pressed a button on his right ear covering and two more holograms appeared. They immediately attacked Isaiah and hit him all over his body, focusing on keeping him from using his energy beams. The team's kicks and punches knocked him to his knees. Tired of getting hit, he swung his arms in a half-circle, quickly blocking their blows and followed up with a power punch to both their bodies, destroying them.

"Improving. Level 4." This hologram was a bit larger and beefier than previous holograms. Isaiah punched it and it barely budged. _Gonna need power punches for this guy_, he realized. But this hologram was not going to let that happen. It blocked and parried his punches and kicks, and unleashed devastating combos of rapid punches. "Level 4 times 3," said the drone as he added two more of the same hologram to the training ground. Isaiah was in over his head as they rained blow after blow on him. He crouched down. _This is bad!_ he thought. "Explosive release!"

KABLOOM! The ground shook as tiny particles of antimatter released from his body detonated with the force of a brick of TNT, obliterating the holograms. The shields shook from the force of the blast.

"Unngh," he groaned. He pushed himself off the ground, stunned from the explosion and all the hits he took.

"Do you understand now?" asked Eight of Dave.

"Unnn…." he groaned again.

Eight of Dave walked through the shield wall to Isaiah's side. Using his foot, he flipped Isaiah off his chest and to his back. "You're too reliant on your basic power. You won't always have those to call upon in a physical confrontation."

"But-"

"No buts. You need to learn how to block. And importantly, how to dodge." The drone stepped back and made a new hologram appear. Isaiah stood up. "Follow every movement of this hologram." The hologram showed him a block, and Isaiah copied his movements.

An hour later, Commander Pence and Ensign Purcell looked at the satellite view of the young hero's training session. At that time, they saw a hologram standing at one end of the ground, aiming a bow at Isaiah who was standing at the other end. The arrow shot forth. Isaiah moved to the left but got stuck in the hip and fell down. They saw the drone walk over to Isaiah.

"What's are they saying?" asked Pence.

"Computer; sound approximation."

"DOOODDGGGGE!" shouted the drone at Isaiah. It yanked the arrow from his hip.

"I always said that boy needed some tough love," said Pence.

"Damn straight, commander."


	17. Birth of a Golden Age

Opening sequence: same as Ep 16 but at the black background, the image of Q drifts by at the Kzzst! sound. The title loads and then cut to commercial.

USS Springfield, 30 AU from New Busan

2 weeks later,

The Oberth-class ship spotted one of the system's many asteroid belts on its sensors. On the small yet spacious bridge were several officers, and one very bored Isaiah Oregon. "Slow to one-quarter impulse," said the captain.

The first officer looked at the teenager. "Is this your first time in space?" she asked. "I know you colonials don't-"

"No it is not my first time in space," Isaiah curtly responded. "It is my first time to this part of the system though."

"Sorry about that."

Isaiah waved it off and crossed his arms. The communications officer asked "So why did you come here? Field trip?"

Ensign Purcell stood up. "Mr. Oregon has some special talents that will aid the mission," he explained.

"Like what?"

"I know some tricks," said Isaiah.

"I wonder about that..." muttered the Caitian captain. "Anyway, we will be at the first target asteroid in fifteen minutes."

"That's our cue. Come, Mr. Oregon," said Ensign Purcell as they walked to the elevator. When the door closed, Ensign Purcell told the computer to take them to the hanger deck. As they were going sideways to the right pylon, Ensign Purcell spoke "You need to keep your identity relatively secret to the crew."

"Yeah, yeah," Isaiah opined. "Secret this, shadow warfare that." He looked at the Ensign. "I'm the heavy hitter. You call me in when you need to go loud."

"That's why you're out here with me and the _Springfield_. In case the Romulans show up and we need someone to go loud."

"I can't survive in space!" Isaiah loudly said.

"Yes, you can. We estimate..." he mumbled and started counting his fingers, "...and carry the one..., oh maybe 5 minutes of air you can contain in your shields."

"I am sooo reassured."

The elevator went down the connecting pylon that joined the saucer hull to the secondary hull. Once they got to the cargo bay, they waited for the ship to tractor in an asteroid. Under instructions from Ensign Purcell, Isaiah cut the asteroid into quarters and transmuted the large pieces into blocks of more useful materials like sarium and plutonium. The purpose of the project was to make base materials the replicators could draw on to make other things without using as much power.

The science team in the cargo bay became impressed by Isaiah's talents. But he would not answer their questions. He jokingly called it 'magic'.

After an hour of transmuting asteroids, the ship moved close to a large grouping of asteroids. They returned to the bridge to speak to the captain. On the way up the elevator, Ensign Purcell asked him a few questions.

"What do you think of your teammates?"

Isaiah face showed his barely suppressed rage. He started grinding his teeth loudly, to the point even Purcell heard it. His right eyebrow started twitching up and down. "They piss me off SO MUCH!" The crystal on his forehead glowed. "I do ALL the hard work and they get in the way TOO damn MUCH!"

"Based on the reports, they were crucial to many of your victories."

Isaiah squinted hard at the door. "When I'm not fighting them! They think they're better than me because their powers come from bulls*** and not science! If I didn't have to hold back, I could wreck their asses!" He shook his fist in anger.

"Instead you got wrecked."

"That was my first few times out there!" He swung his fist, hitting nothing but air. "I've gotten better at fighting lately! Next time they don't listen to me, they will live short and die broken at my feet!"

Ensign Purcell looked at him and smiled. "Even Genji?" he asked.

Isaiah stopped ranting and looked confused. "I...she..."

"What? Do you like her or something? Or are you afraid of her Mobile War Armor?"

"I..."

The elevator slowed down. Ensign Purcell asked, "What do you really want?"

Isaiah squinted in barely contained rage. The doors opened. "I want them working for me not against me!" He said as they walked inside.

The captain stood up and walked towards them. "That's some pretty good work you did in there," said the captain.

"Yeah, I'm amazing, aren't I?" Isaiah bragged.

"I found it quite basic," said a teenage male voice. It came from the captain's chair. The bridge officers turned from their consoles to face the strange voice. Sitting in the captain's chair was a teenage boy with thick and wavy brown hair, and wearing a Starfleet command uniform. The teen stood up. The Caitian captain felt his fur ruffle and quickly turned around.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" the captain quickly asked as he reached for a phaser.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the teen responded with a smug tone.

"Seize him!" ordered the captain. The crew responded quickly, springing from their seats to grab the teen. The teen smirked and waved his hand. The crew except for Ensign Purcell and Isaiah started floating, as if they were no longer covered by gravity. He waved his hand down and they fell to the floor, head first. Then **flug flug flug! **A spray of goop shot from his hands. It stuck the crew to the floor and covered all but the captain's mouth.

"YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH -MMMRGG!" And now the captain's mouth was covered.

The teen hovered over the captain and towards Isaiah. "I've come here for you, little boy."

"ME?" asked Isaiah.

"Yes, you dumbass." The teen stopped floating. "I saw your battle against the Borg superfighter. I've seen what you can do. What you're capable of."

"So?"

"So the others of my kind think you're some big shot. Well," he pushed Isaiah but he barely budged. "you don't look so tough to me. This galaxy isn't big enough for two tough guys."

"Be careful, Isaiah," said Ensign Purcell. "He's a Q."

"What's a Q?"

"It means I'm god, dumbass." He slapped Isaiah with a backhand. "I exist beyond space and time! I alter reality to my every whim. I can make you and break you 1000 times a day if I wanted to!"

Isaiah had more than enough of this god punk. As this Q talked, Isaiah talked to his computer. {Computer, I don't see any equipment. What's his power source?}

{I am detecting a multi-dimensional aperture behind the back of the subject approximately one centimeter off the skin.}

"Listen Q, you are not a godling. You can be defeated just like anything else," said Purcell.

"You seem to know a lot about us for a human." Q turned his attention to Purcell. "How? Explain."

{Can we jam or block it?}

{Affirmative.}

"I'm part of Section 31. We know this and many more things about you," he said as he crossed his arms.

"Bored." Q pushed a palm forward and a strong breeze slammed Purcell against the elevator door. He slid down, unconscious **flug **and now gooped to the door. "I will deal with you shortly." He turned to face Isaiah, who'd been staring at the viewscreen instead of paying attention. "As for you, human freak of science, I will prove my superiority against you!" He pointed a finger upwards dramatically. "A contest of powers!"

"Fine," said Isaiah. "Try breaking me now."

The Q looked at him. "Oh, how I am going to enjoy this!" He snapped his fingers. A spark appeared from his fingertips for a brief second, but otherwise, Isaiah was fine. "What?" He looked at his hand. "My powers! They're gone!"

Isaiah smiled evilly. His crystals began to glow. _Commence destruction._ **Whump! **A shield shove from his lowered palm sent the menacing Q to the wall by the communications console. Q slammed into it, leaving a dent in it. He looked up and **wruang! **Isaiah flew at him and crashed into him, punching them through the wall. They went through the wall and into the quarters of one of the officers, bouncing off her cabinet and sofa.

Isaiah stood up first, grabbed the god by his wavy hair and threw him into the bathroom.

"EEEK!" screamed a woman as the stunned god crashed through the shower screen as she was taking a shower. She ran from the bathroom, grabbed a towel and ran out of the door.

Isaiah tore the curtain rod off the wall, ripped the curtain off it and held it upwards. The god looked up. Isaiah swung it down on his face and chest **whaung whaung whaung...whaung whaung whaung...whaungwhaungwhaung...whaungwhaung **to the tune of Jingle Bells.

After hitting the obnoxious godling enough times to break the pole, Isaiah turned off the water and dragged him out of the bathroom by the hair. The godling struggled to move his arms. Isaiah dragged him over to a coffee table, put the godling's head on the edge, and stepped down. **WHABAM! **A disintegrator bolt hit him square in the chest. Isaiah stepped back and looked ahead. Another godling stood in the room. The man resembled an older, taller version of this godling, with a touch of gray hair around the edges of his hair.

"You will not-" the godling started to say, "-hey wait a minute! You're supposed to be dead! How are you still alive?"

"Thought you gods knew everything," said Isaiah. "Guess I'll have to teach you... PAIN!"

**WHAKOOM! **The hull of the Springfield vibrated as a hole was torn through it. Out of the hole went the Qs. Together they slammed into an asteroid floating nearby. The older Q shook off the blow and looked around. He quickly realized he was no longer on the ship, and that a bright light was coming from it. He felt his power returning and looked at his hand. His god-level intellect realized that he was not getting much stronger. _That human brat or the ship must've made a jamming field. I'm getting weaker as he gets closer. I could fight him but my son will die or I will die._ He saw Isaiah flying towards the asteroid belt. _I can't beat him or negotiate. I've got to run. _That part of the asteroid spun away from Isaiah's view. The older Q lifted the younger Q off the surface and put him on his shoulder in a fireman's carry. _If I fly, he'll catch me. But if I jump..._He channeled some power into his legs and sprang off the asteroid, flying upward to another asteroid. Like a pinball, he bounced off asteroid after asteroid in the rubble pile, slowly but steadily moving away from the menace.

_Where is he? I can't see him anywhere in this...blackness! _Isaiah complained as he floated in the asteroid pile. "Where are you hiding? I thought you were a god, not a B****! Come here and face your Ragnarok!" he yelled. Then it dawned on him: _Wait I'm in space. There's no way he can hear me- there he is!_ A star blinking caught his attention and he looked to the left. A tiny asteroid spun wildly and differently than the others. He flew in that direction and spotted something moving between the asteroids. But as he got closer, he lost track of the quickly moving object. So he stopped and got mad.

"How dare you run from me you god of chicken sh**?!" He aimed his palms at the asteroids in front of him and let loose a torrent of explosive energy balls. Asteroids nearby exploded or spun out of control.

The older Q had stopped at a large tubular asteroid and was about to jump to the next small asteroid when it exploded. He turned to jumped downward, but that asteroid got knocked off course and spun away from the rest of the field. _This human's got more power than a battlecruiser!_ he lamented in thought. _This asteroid's pretty thick. He might ignore me. _He leaned against the asteroid.

But his plan was not to be as Isaiah flew over the asteroid and into the chaotic debris field he just made a kilometer from his position. Isaiah looked around the debris and did not see him, so he spun around. He found the pair of Q huddling by a ridge on the asteroid he forgot to blow up. He raised his palms to fire. The older Q's eyes grew big as he saw the palms glowing. _Oh s***! He's got me dead on! I don't have the power to leave this dimension! Can't attack either. I have to run and hope he misses!_ He started 'running' along the asteroid by exerting a downward force to act as gravity to keep him from bouncing off the surface.

"Don't you run from me!" Isaiah shouted. He aimed his palms at the asteroid and fired twin phaser beams at him. The asteroid surface glowed red from the beams as the older Q ran fast enough to avoid them. But the beams came closer, like a flyswatter swinging to hit the fly.

A bright light shined in Isaiah's face from his right side. He ceased firing and held up a hand to block it.

"Isaiah! Stop firing!_"_ said Ensign Purcell on the radio. The Springfield had a light shining on him.

"Why?" he asked back. "I almost have him!"

"You're almost out of air. You've got to return to the ship!"

"But I can take 'em out!"

"You're going to run out of oxygen!"

Isaiah aimed looked back at the asteroid. The Qs were no longer in sight. He was about to move forward when he got an alert about his blood oxygen levels. "Tshsh. Another time," he muttered. He turned and flew towards the ship.

"He's coming back," said the navigation officer.

"What have we done..." the captain muttered.

Q Continuum council

moments later.

"OW!" said Q junior as older Q put the Q's equivalent of an ice pack on his forehead. Most of the wounds healed instantly when they returned to the interdimensional space they inhabit. "That hurt!"

"Quit whining," said the older Q. "You're not the one he punched through a bulkhead." After saying that, he looked at the equivalent of wrappings around his ribs.

The two Qs turned around as the Q leadership walked into the unnecessarily dimly lit meeting room. The leaders wore unnecessarily long black robes, and tall curved rimmed hats somewhat similar to farmers hats in Vietnam. Why? They're godlings, and godlings love pseudo-formality. They sat down in their assigned seats by the black raised bench, ready to impose their judgment.

The Q leader sat down in the middle of the bench and looked at the Q before her. Her face and voice resembled that of a famous 21st-century pop/ R&B singer famous for Super Bowl performances. "While we are overjoyed that the two of you survived the battle, we are disappointed with the actions you took."

"You did not want me to save my son from certain death?" the Q asked.

"I think she means me, father," said Q junior.

"Precisely. You have been warned about improper use of your powers before." The leader stood up.

The leader to her right spoke. "You showed up on a Federation vessel and provoked their champion. To what end?" He then stood up.

"I..." Q junior dropped the ice pack. "I want to take him down! The Federation dares to think they can create beings similar to us! This cannot-ow!"

Q tapped his wayward son on the forehead. "My apologies, councilman. My son here wanted a challenge and did not anticipate that the human could release jamming energies. But now that we know what Isaiah Oregon is capable of, we can deal out swift Q justice to him right away. We will break him for daring to lay a hand on my son."

"And punching you through the bulkhead and making you jump across space rocks like Frogger?" The councilman to the left of the leader asked.

"Did you have to remind me? Was that really necessary?"

"Permission denied. You and your son are to avoid all further contact with him AND his cohorts," said the leader. She sat back down.

"What? Why?" asked Q Junior.

Q Junior's father pleaded, "I fail to understand-"

"SILENCE!" The councilman to her left shouted at them. "You failed to consider the historical context of his presence on the timeline!" He stood up.

"That boy and his powerful cohort will work with Section 31 to make the first Federation golden age!" the councilman on the right said. He sat down.

"The golden age?!" the older Q repeated.

"Yes, Q," said the leader. She stood up. "They will build the foundation of the golden age, the era of peace, watered by an ocean of blood and seeded by mountains of corpses. You are not to touch them anymore."

"But-" Q junior spoke.

"Zip it. Or your mouths will be zipped." She drew a line across the edge of her lips.

'Hero HQ', the section 31 official base for the hero team,

8 hours later.

Commander Pence paced around the planning room table as Ensign Purcell described the events of the day. When Purcell finished, Pence stopped pacing and lowered his arms. "I see. The trickster gods are interested in our little team."

"You know about them?" asked Genji.

"Section 31 has seen the effects of their mischief on our quadrant. Since they're omnipotent beings they don't care about leaving traces." He looked at Isaiah. "That might change after this encounter, maybe. This is our first recorded direct encounter with this species."

"And I kicked its ass! Huh? Huh?" Isaiah cheered. He held out his hands for a high-five. None came, so he withdrew his hands and sulked.

"Quite. But by directly engaging them, you may have doomed the entire Federation. They won't take this loss sitting down."

"Hey, he wanted to fight me. Why is it my problem he got wrecked?"

Ensign Purcell tapped the table. "Ever hear of 'winning the battle but losing the war'?" he asked.

"Well, I don't see how that applies here."

"Neither do I," Jidod spoke. "I wonder: if they're so godlike, why are we still alive to speak about it?"

"That is a good question. Perhaps they have limits we don't know of," said Pence.

"They could be plotting to destroy us through subterfuge," said Enabran. "It would be what I would do if I lost a direct attack."

"Of course, that remains a possibility."

"Then we have no choice," said Genji. She stood up and banged the table with her palm. "We must destroy the Q before they destroy us or the Federation! That will be our main task from now on! No matter what the cost..." her voice trembled with anger as she finished her sentence. Isaiah swore he saw a red light glowing in her iris for a split second, as if her eyes were burning with anger.


	18. Deep Shadows

The opening sequence starts off the same as the previous episode, but the last cut before the background goes black is the scene where Pa Wraith-controlled Enabran duels and blasts Isaiah. The screen cuts to black and the Pa Wraiths drift across the screen when the kzzsst! sound goes off. The title card appears, with Isaiah on the left, Jidod left center, Genji and Austin to the right, and now Enabran in the middle. The screen flashes and the 5 mini Pa wraiths are bobbing up and down on his shoulders while he glows with a purple light. At the sponsor card, an image of Enabran looking into the orb appears. An evil face appears on the orb for a split-second to scare the audience. Cut to commercial.

Enabran's bedroom,

12 AM

Enabran tossed and turned in his bed. The lightning from the storm outside did not help him sleep either. Unexpectedly, the blanket began to hover over his bed. A light shone on him, coming from the orb by his bed.

In his dream, he saw rainbow-shimmering hammerhead sharks dancing in the sky above him. A mask floated up to him from the bleak Cardassian cityscape he was standing a kilometer from. The mask had two recessed holes for eyes, an open zipper of a mouth, and a black spot at the top. The mask blew confetti in his face and quickly flew away. He looked to his right and saw a human female with long frizzy hair sitting on a tree swing while petting a sleeping skunk. A cat ran up to the tree swing, shouted lottery numbers in Klingon at them, then ran away when the skunk turned around and sprayed yellow mist at it.

{Is there a point to this?} loudly asked Enabran. {If these dreams made me wet the bed, I swear to Oralius that I will put the orb on the first ship going to Bajor.}

The dreamscape shifted to total darkness. Enabran heard whispering that got louder as the Pa Wraiths argued with each other. He couldn't hear what they were saying, other than that were saying things and he knew which ones were speaking. After a moment passed, a singular light appeared above him.

The female Pa Wraith appeared before him, in the form of a burning woman. The fire went out and she resembled his mother, but the nose was a little longer. {You realize that we are supposed to speak in metaphors, right?} she asked him.

{We talked about this already!}" the tallest Pa Wraith shouted from the shadows.

{Do you need more time? I could go back to sleep if your team needs more time,} Enabran proposed.

{Ignore them,} said the female Pa Wraith in the form of his mom. {Anyway, we sense a power source on this planet. One that could bridge the gap between you and your powerful friends.} She vanished, and the form of Genji appeared, speaking with her voice, but the hair color was off, like she had dyed her hair brown. {You must seek out and claim this newly awakened power…} and she vanished.

In front of him stood the tallest Pa Wraith. It was growing in size as it spoke, its voice deepening as it grew. {Soon you will fight the Q. They are gods like us and tower over you mortals like ANNTSSS} He morphed into the Mobile War Armor when he grew to its size. Being this close to the thing that almost killed him made him nervous and he took a step back. {That is right, mortal! You must tremble before the gods!} And he vanished.

The shortest Pa Wraith appeared, looking like a Irish leprechaun that lost a bar fight. The creature grew in height as it spoke with a cheery voice. {Seek out this lost treasure of power!} It turned into Isaiah. {And-}

Enabran raised a hand and the shortest Pa Wraith stopped. {Fine, you have sold me on your quest. No more dream stuff. Where is it?}

Isaiah smiled. {Follow me..} it said with a scary echo at the end.

Enabran sat up in bed. He snapped his fingers twice and the glowing box opened up. The glowing orb floated over to his hand. Enabran stood up, tossed the orb up and bent down. It floated into his back. His sleeping clothes disappeared and became a midnight black armored costume with flame drawings coming from the wrists up to his elbows. The flames also rose up the legs to the knees.

Wasteland, 100km S of New Busan,

Four minutes later.

T

he thunderstorm barely distracted Enabran as he flew to the mesa. He focused more on the "bread crumbs" of Pa Wraith energy circles floating in his path every kilometer. He landed in front of it and put a hand on the wall of rock.

{So how do I-} Enabran asked but was interrupted by vibrations. They grew louder. **vvvBBBRRMMM! SA-CRASSH**! The rock face was a facade like the one Isaiah got punched through, and fell to pieces quickly. It hid a cave entrance not much different than the one they found the zerg the cave creatures in. Enabran's right hand glowed and he walked inside. {I assume you think I am stating the obvious when I say this but this is clearly a trap.}

{Quit whining,} the four-eyed Pa Wraith said, his voice angry and scratchy. {There is not a single trap in existence that can hold someone of your strength.}

{Glad to know I have your confidence.}

{pshaw! Move faster, worm!}

"GUGH!" Enabran groaned as the Pa Wraiths shoved him forward as if he were laundry going into the washing machine. He flew through the tunnel and crashed inside the cave. He stumbled and stood up. It was another buried settlement. This complex appeared much smaller than the previous city. The structures were shorter in height and had spires from the center of the domes. These spires had several pointy obtrusions extending out a meter, making him think they were radio antennas.

He started feeling a strange beat in his heart as he walked towards the deserted buildings. The light from his hands the only thing keeping him sane but the moving shadows his light made were not helping said sanity at all.

{Are you scared?} asked the female Pa Wraith.

{No,} Enabran kind of lied.

{You should be. Look down.}

Enabran looked down and noticed that he was about to step on a pile of alien bones. {Ah...some of our old friends are here.}

{Turn to your left,} the female Pa Wraith ordered. Enabran turned to the left. {Now turn all the way to the right.} Enabran did so. There was a slight change in the beat of his heart. {Now go straight ahead.} _The odds of this being a trap seem low._

A few minutes of walking later, he came across a large structure. There were benches with curved seats for bipedal creatures with large butts apparently. He looked up at the main structure. It was open at the bottom and framed by piles of metal poles extending upwards to form an archway in such a way it reminded him of hedges or bushes.

{Sufficiently creepy,} Enabran told the Pa Wraiths. {Is what you want me to find in here?} There was no response, but the feeling he was getting from his heart seemed to provide him with an answer. {Into the mouth of madness, we go.}

As he went up the short steps to the center of the structure, he could not help but think he was heading into an altar. {So what am I looking for here?} he asked.

Murmurs came from the Pa Wraiths. Finally, the shortest Pa Wraith explained {We are not certain. The power source is shaped like a spiky globe and it feels like it is under your feet.}

{Can you be more specific?} Enabran asked as he looked down.

{We only have your body to sense with,} the Pa Wraith with four eyes said, {and your body is quite inferior to our previous forms.}

{Sorry to disappoint you.}

{I believe it might be on a trigger or conditional release system,} said the female Pa Wraith.

{What makes you say that?}

{Look up.}

Enabran looked up and quickly noticed that he was surrounded by clawed, jagged mouth cave creatures in the metallic archway above him. "Oh good. I was looking for something to kill." His hands started glowing.

SRKEEE! The creatures screamed as they dropped from the archway to attack. Enabran quickly punched the first one aside. When that creature flew past the archway, metal spikes quickly extended around the entrance, blocking his escape. "Told you it was a trap!" Enabran loudly said as he ducked under the flying bite of a cave creature. He thought about blowing everything up but the Pa Wraiths had other plans.

{You can't!} said the four eyed Pa Wraith. {You'll blow up the globe!}

{That would be bad!} Enabran replied. He raised a shield in time to block a strong tail strike from a cave creature. He swung it around to block their attempts to tackle and overwhelm him. {Suggestions?}

{Consider this a test of your worthiness,} said the tallest Pa Wraith. {Use our powers wisely and the globe will be ours. Or dieee.}

{You had to URGH!} Enabran got distracted by his conversation and got slashed in the back. He jumped forward and spun, making the creatures in his path instinctively move out of the way. He put his wounded back against the wall. The cave creatures arranged themselves around and above him, leaving him with no way out. He carefully considered his options, and decided there was only one.

He raised his arms above his hands. The creatures took this as a sign of surrender and lept towards him. **FABOOSH**! He released a massive burst of Pa Wraith flame from his body. It flooded the enclosed area and spun upward, incinerating everything. As soon as the last creature was no more, the flames sunk back into his body. He collapsed to his knees from the explosive release of energy. Enabran looked at his arms and hands. Steam rose from the exposed skin.

A glowing light appeared in a circle at the bottom of the floor in the middle of the enclosure. A thin pillar rose from the floor with a grinding sound that reminded him of old engines, stopping once it was a foot taller than him. He got up and walked around the pillar, wondering why it was special. When he walked around the side, he saw a glowing light. He stepped to the light and sure enough, there was a glowing spiky sphere inside a slot in the pilar. He lifted it up. Nothing happened, but he felt something familiar about the orb, as if destiny had made this happen. {This is the thing you wanted. What am I supposed to do with it?}

A bunch of murmurs and gnashing teeth came from his mind. Enabran asked {Do any of you know what I am supposed to do with this?} More murmurs and even some hissing came from his mind.

Enabran sighed. Finally, the shortest Pa Wraith said {Put it on your chest!}

{It has spikes. This is not going anywhere near my-}

{JUST DO IT WHINY ASS!} shouted the shortest Pa Wraith. As if it became a magnet, the orb passed into his chest. Enabran felt a surge of power through his body and the aura his powers made around his skin appeared brighter.

Inside his mind, five new Pa Wraiths appeared. They stood in front of Enabran's Pa Wraiths. Only one of the five were distinct from the rest in that he had four arms and six legs. He raised his arms triumphantly. {AH! After 50 thousand years, I'm free! It's time to conquer Eart- where am I?}

{Your oblivion!} shouted the tallest Pa Wraith. Enabran's Pa Wraiths stretched their arms and grabbed the new Pa Wraiths by their foreheads. The new Pa Wraiths screamed as they got sucked through the arms and into the metaphysical bodies of Enabran's Pa Wraiths.

{Did you just...eat them?} Enabran asked.

{Their power became our power,} the female Pa Wraith explained.

{And why was this necessary? They were your people after all.}

The four eyed Pa Wraith answered {They were annoying. They were outcasts and rule breakers.}

Enabran looked around. He felt a greater sense of strength but nothing overwhelming or as cool as when he first absorbed the orb. {Did it work? I do not feel any significant change.}

{With their abilities and knowledge,} the female Pa Wraith explained, {you can release more of our power without as much bodily harm. Now point your right arm forward.}

Enabran did as the godling asked. Soon, a red colored energy blade appeared on around his hand. "Yesss…" he said. {Now let's show my foolish rivals the true power of a god!}

The tallest Pa Wraith appeared before him, wearing a black cloak with hood. His face was a flowing mass of black fog and his eyes were bright lights. "Wrong, Cardassian whelp," he said with a strict tone. "This power is not for showing off."

The shortest Pa Wraith appeared next to him. His hood was different in that it had two points like devil horns above it. "You…" he spoke in a deep, echoey voice, "must…" with a lot of unneeded obnoxious dramatic pauses, "save this power for the fight…. against those wretched... Q." An energy blade of the same color appeared in both their hands. "Now... your training...begins!"

At Section 31 HQ, Ensign Purcell became curious over sensor reports of tremors and energy signatures coming from the mesa. He sipped his coffee and noticed a match in their records.

Epilogue,

Isaiah's training grounds, the next day.

Isaiah took off his shirt and tossed it aside. Other than a few bruises, he was in good shape. He squared off against two martial arts masters.

"Level 6," said Eight of Dave.

"Bring it!" shouted Isaiah as he used his enhanced speed and rushed forward. Using what he had learned in the first week of training, he immediately focused on one opponent.

The drone's motion detector picked up something fast behind it. It looked over its shoulder. Genji walked towards it and stopped when the drone looked at her. "You must be Genji," said Eight of Dave.

"You know me?" she asked.

"Have you come to watch your subordinate-?" **crrack**! Isaiah howled in pain. "-train?"

Genji looked towards the training ground and watched as Isaiah went from taking a beating to delivering it.

"You can stand closer," said Eight of Dave.

Genji walked closer, mesmerized by the skill Isaiah's shirtless body displayed. His technique of blocking and rapid counterpunch looked effective.

"You seem impressed," said Eight of Dave.

"I...am. I've only seen him fight a couple of times," she replied. "I've never seen him do so well."

Soon, the two Level 6 masters were defeated and removed from the training area. The shields dropped as Isaiah let out a cheer of relief. Genji walked towards him. She clapped a couple of times, and Isaiah turned to face her.

"Genji?" Isaiah asked. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Section 31 can see everything from orbit," she replied. "Looks like you're finally improving."

Isaiah wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I'm getting the hang of it. We gotta get ready for the Q and stuff like that."

"Excellent. Show me." Genji tossed her communicator outside of the training area. She cracked her knuckles and stretched her arms. Then she took up a fighting stance with both arms raised. "No powers."

"Either way, I beat you."

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Genji sprang forwards and swung for his ear. He swiftly ducked under it and threw a Karate chop with his right hand. Genji saw it coming and blocked it with her left arm, then grabbed his shoulders and jumped. Locking her legs around his abdomen and legs, she spun and swept him off his feet with a modified scissors takedown. Isaiah slammed into the dirt facedown. Then she spun him around and sat on his chest with fist ready to strike.

"Damn, you're pretty good yourself!" said Isaiah as he wiped some dirt from his chin.

"I gotta be if I'm going to keep up with you lot."

"You have a giant robot. Why do you need combat training?"

They stood still for a moment, breathing heavily, looking into each other's eyes. Genji had an answer to his question, but something...primal...was holding back her tongue. She got off him and pulled him up.

"You didn't answer."

She slapped his chest. "I can't let you have all the fun fighting the Q."

Eight of Dave stepped back. "Your team is fighting the Q?" it asked.

"That's right," said Genji. "What do you know of them?"

"The collective has heard of them. They know more than we know since we only have a fraction of the collective's knowledge." Eight of Dave stood up straight again. "We will have to search through our databases to determine what knowledge will be useful." He turned around and started walking away. Abruptly he stopped. "Want one more session?"

"Same as last one, Eight," said Isaiah.

"Level 6 it is." Eight pressed a button on the eyepiece and the martial arts masters returned. Isaiah and Genji got into fighting stances, ready for the toughest fight of the day.


	19. Enter The Tal Shiar

Opening sequence: Same as the previous episode until the fight scenes. Enabran fights the cave creatures, then Isaiah beats the Q junior with the shower rod, Genji shooting missiles at Enabran, Jidod fighting the Klingons, Jidod wrecking Isaiah, and Isaiah and Genji fighting together. The background goes black and a symbol that looks like someone lazily stapled a dead eagle on a pole between two Es floats by at the kzzst! sound effect. The title screen appears with Genji at the lead position. The screen flashes and the head of the robot replaces her, eyes glowing red. Cut to commercial.

Oregon family lab,  
930PM

Isaiah lifted the heavy cube from the replicator shelf in the wall and carried it towards the processing equipment case his father stood by.

"Easy...easy..., that's concentrated protomatter," said Isaiah's father. Isaiah made it to the case and began to lower the cube into the cube-shaped case on the floor. "One mistake and kaboom."

Isaiah lowered it gently. slip-THWAC!THUD! It slipped from his hands, bounced off the case and hit the floor with a sickening sound.

"AAGGH!" Gabriel screamed like a girl as he raised his arms to block an explosion. "(Sulu voice) Ohh myyy... I think I pooped my pants."

"Sorry, pops!"

"Just put it in the damn case without blowing up the entire solar system!" he yelled at Isaiah. Isaiah flinched and quickly lifted it back up. Gabriel turned around and left the room in a hurry. After the cube of solid protomatter went into the case, Isaiah wiped the sweat from his brow. _Wow, fighting the cyborg superfighter wasn't this har_d.

Gabriel walked into the room. "Good news my pants are still HOLY FORBORT!" A grenade landed next to his feet. He jumped back to dodge the explosion. BAKOOM!

Isaiah lowered the shield he made around the grenade and ran to his father's side. That's when he saw the shrapnel stuck in his father's legs. The explosion went through the floor and caused the floor tiles to shatter and fly apart. "DAD!" he yelled.

Gabriel felt a burning pain in his leg. "ARGGHG!" he screamed.

"What should I do?" Isaiah lifted his father's chest and leaned him against the wall.

"Go!" Gabriel pointed to the window. "Check for enemies and help me later!"

Isaiah stood still for a moment, then looked to the window. whsss! He quickly flew outside and hovered above the house. He saw a few humans and Deltans walking by the front of their house. _Damn! I don't know who to look for!_ He flew back and transported his dad to the emergency room.

Section 31 office,  
ten minutes later.

Enabran walked into the full room as Austin opened the camera footage from outside the lab. They laughed when they saw heard Gabriel scream. The grenade flew towards and under the camera in the footage, thrown from behind the bushes in the camera view. Austin rewound the footage and paused it when the grenade came close to the camera.

"This is a Romulan antipersonnel grenade," Austin explained. "Since we haven't detected any Romulan vessels, this means it's a Tal Shiar operation."

"What are the Tal Shiar?" Enabran asked.

"Romulan secret service," said Ensign Purcell. "They are almost as dangerous as we are."

"Well, they tried to kill my father so I'd say they're more dangerous!" said Isaiah with an angry tone in his voice.

Commander Pense rewound the clip a little more. They saw a female humanoid wearing a hooded cloak run and dart behind the bush. "That's our suspect," said the commander. He pressed a button on the datapad. "Computer, cross reference this person on all camera feeds within our base, past half-hour."

"Acknowledged," the computer replied and got to work.

"This will take some time, but we can act now," said Ensign Purcell. He got on the communicator and called the security chief while the others talked.

"Will your dad will be OK?" asked Genji. She put a hand on his shoulder.

"I think so. When I left, they were taking pieces out and he was yelling a lot."

"You really should invest in an underground lab," Enabran said, "just like the other supervillains."

"Not now," Genji scolded him.

"Are you cruisin' for a brui-" Isaiah was about to taunt him when Commander Pense interrupted.

"Got her! She's in the northern woods!"

"Excellent," said Jidod. He stepped back and spun his bat'leth over his head. The staff stepped away from him. He swung three times and a portal to the northern woods opened up.

"First dibs!" shouted Genji as she picked up a phaser from the table and ran into the portal.

"I get first dibs! She tried to kill me and my dad!" Isaiah said as he ran into the portal.

"I will have to save your butts yet again!" Enabran sighed as he hovered and flew through the portal.

"Hmph! Klingons don't need catchphrases!" sarcastically said Jidod as he casually stepped into the portal. Once he was gone the portal closed.

They stepped and floated into darkness as they entered the woods. They looked around and listened for anything that could lead them towards their prey. When no signs came up, Isaiah grew frustrated and punched a tree. "Damn it! I completely forgot the flashlight!" Enabran made his hands light up. "Thanks!"

"Where would any of you be without me?" sarcastically asked Enabran.

"So what should we do, fearless leader?" Jidod asked Genji.

Genji looked around and quickly had an idea. "Enabran and I will take the ground. You and Isaiah fly above the trees and see what you can see." She raised her phaser and walked forward carefully. "It's clear she's trying to hide from us. Let's move!" She walked quickly forwards in the thin brush.

"A clever deduction," said Enabran as he followed after her.

After five minutes of flight and search, Isaiah grew frustrated. The further north they went the thicker the tree cover became. "This is useless!" he yelled. He made a call to the team. "I can't see anything up here!"

"Nor can I," said Jidod.

"Come back to my position. We will search on foot," Genji ordered. She pressed another button on her communicator. "Commander Pense, no luck here."

"We are searching the eastern ridge to make sure she didn't dupe our cameras or double back," said Commander Pense. Genji heard the loud sounds of footsteps and people talking. "We will report back once the satellite comes back online. Pence, out."

Genji put away her communicator and said "We are on our own for now."

The team gathered at their spot and they walked deeper into the thickening woods. Genji's t-shirt got caught on some prickly bushes. "Who programmed the Genesis Device to make these things?" she whispered. Though the point of whispering was meaningless given that backhoes are the only thing noisier than the way they moved through the forest.

Everyone stopped when Genji heard a click sound when she made a step. A green glow came from the right. Jidod stepped towards her and swung his bat'leth. PATSSSH! PATSSH! Two Romulan disruptor bolts hit his bat'leth, which absorbed their energy. BOOM! An explosive ball from Isaiah's hands destroyed the origin of the bolts. They looked at her feet and saw a metal plate where she had her foot.

"S***, she planted traps," said Isaiah.

"Thank you, Jidod," said Genji with a touch of seriousness in her voice.

"Because of this, I must suggest you return to headquarters," said Jidod.

"But why? I can fight just as well as any of you!"

Jidod held the bat'leth in a guarding stance. "True, but you can't take hits like we can. I don't think non-heroes should be out here."

Genji was about to complain when she saw him wink. It was a difficult task for him because Klingon faces don't bend the way human faces do when winking. She realized what he meant and took out her communicator. "Fine, fine. Computer, one to transport to spaceport." The transporter energy surrounded her and away she went.

They walked through the bushes silently until they came across a path, but at the end of the path four meters ahead, they saw it branched into three different paths.

"Oh joy. Which path do we choose?" Isaiah irritatingly asked.

"The Pa Wraiths think she has been down all three," said Enabran.

"How do they know that?"

"Educated guess. Maybe to throw off the scent."

Jidod walked to the apex and turned hard right. "I will take this path. Best of luck to the rest of you."

"Fine! I don't need your help anyway!" said Isaiah as he jumped and floated down the path to the left.

_I guess we get the middle path then_, thought Enabran as he walked down the path.

Isaiah flew up the path but the trees became thick again so he landed. _Damn, this is difficult!_ He looked around, but couldn't see anything, so he took another step forward. beep! PPPSSSSH! A cloud of smoke surrounded Isaiah and he began to cough. _Gas trap! URNG!_ He thought about getting away but had trouble breathing. Warnings and an image of his lungs appeared in his vision. He stumbled forwards and got gassed again. He thought about flying and took off slam! and crashed through tree limbs at 80kph, then lost control and crashed into another tree. Unable to move anymore, he crashed and passed out on top of a ridge, his throat hoarse and struggling with the toxic gas.

At the same time, Enabran got a warning from his Pa Wraith friends. He knelt down and saw another trap. He looked at the flat metal trap. _How do I disable it?_ Thinking of nothing better, he aimed his palm at it. krrsszzzsizzle! A beam of electricity fired from his hand hit the plate. _An electrical discharge should do the trick!_ He stood up and started walking, but stopped after three steps. There was another trap. He aimed the light at it. It was totally mechanical and had a piece of food on a tray, with a large spring coiled in the middle. "An Earth mousetrap?" he asked out loud. He stepped away from it and saw a small box in his way. "How many traps did she put down?!"

He shot that one with a beam of electricity, disabling it. But when he walked past it, he saw another trap. _This is ridiculous? Did she have a backpack of these things?_ He looked ahead and saw more traps. _The heck with this nonsense, I'm turning around._ He turned around and looked at the traps he disabled. Their running lights were active again. _So I'm flying, then_. He took off, heading for the tree line. But, KABLOOM! A trap in a nearby tree exploded with the force of 100 kg of TNT, knocking him out of the air and back to the ground, where BATOOM! He crashed into another explosive mine, sending him flying KAPOW! into another mine that exploded. He crashed through another tree and rolled around in the mucky dirt, helplessly stunned. SNAP! For good measure, he flopped onto several mousetraps.

At the same time, Jidod ran up the path and easily found the cloaked woman. She carried a box with her right arm as she ran. He sped up but the spy turned around and saw him. She fired a disrupter bolt with her left hand. Jidod's bat'leth easily absorbed it. She kept running away from his furious charge.

Jidod heard some grunting sounds and looked over his shoulder. He saw something running towards him. It resembled a kolar beast, but the lack of antlers told him it wasn't. It was closer to an earth grizzly bear with an armored backbone. It soon dawned on Jidod that the creature was faster than him, and wanted a piece of him. He would have to fight. He stopped running and gripped his bat'leth. The creature jumped and raised a paw. He ducked and swung the bat'leth forward. scrrip! The blade cut a deep gash in the creature's underbelly as it went by. It landed, stumbled briefly and quickly spun back as Jidod turned around. It shook its head and growled. Jidod yelled a primal scream at it, in the hopes it would flee. Not this creature. Acting as if it had been challenged for its mate, it stood up on the hind legs and quickly walked forward, mouth open and loaded with jagged, drool covered teeth.

The creature swiped at him with the left paw. Jidod stepped to his right and pushed the bat'leth forward, then twisted with his arms and body, making another deep cut with the central and left cutting blades. The creature yelped and quickly swung the paw back. whap! Jidod got knocked off his feet and hit the mossy soil. Snap! He screamed in pain as the creature bit his leg, its jagged teeth partially piercing the armor. He swung the bat'leth down and bashed the creature in the skull. It whimpered and backed off, shaking its head as Jidod got to his feet.

Bloodlust and rage filled their minds. Jidod screamed again, the creature roared as well. They charged each other. Jidod rammed the central blade of the bat'leth of Kahless into the creature's chest. The creature pushed down. Jidod could not hold up the creature, even with his enhanced strength, from that angle and they fell down. snap! Jidod screamed again as the creature bit him in the shoulder. He reached for his d'k tahg short blade and clicked it open. shunk! He shoved it into the creature's neck. More blood poured from the creature's body. It let go of his shoulder and started running whump whump whump! with Jidod holding onto the bat'leth embedded in his chest. It stepped on Jidod's chest, the almost one ton creature putting a lot of weight on that one paw. Jidod screamed as his armor broke, then his ribs. But with his great strength, he pulled free his weapons. Massive amounts of blood poured out of the creature and it howled. It stepped off Jidod and walked a few meters, then flopped by a tree.

"Unnggh", Jidod groaned. "Must...stop...the..." but he could not move any longer.

Meanwhile, the Romulan spy, happy with the success of her mission and of her escape, quickly decloaked her shuttle and opened the hatch. She stepped inside and launched the shuttle. The shuttle rose from the forest, spooking many avian creatures. She scanned the area for any witnesses and found the three heroes, their life signs falling. Deciding she'd better not leave any witnesses, she moved the shuttle towards Jidod's position.

Jidod blinked his eyes as the glowing underside of the stealth shuttlecraft floated above him. He closed his eyes and said a prayer to Kah'less, asking for forgiveness for his failures. VSSSKAPOW! He opened his eyes and the shuttlecraft was no longer above it. wham pow! Bits of it landed near him. "She...made...it..." And Jidod passed out.

Genji spun Jingwei around as it flew over the forest, phaser cannon rifle secured in one hand. It scanned the space above the planet with optical and other sensors. A circle appeared on the viewscreen at a point 70 kilometers above the surface. A moment later, the words Gravitational anomaly detected appeared on the screen. "Cloaked warbird spotted. Request permission to fire," radioed Genji. She aimed the phaser cannon rifle at the anomaly.

"Permission granted," said Commander Pense.

The Romulan crew became confused by what their sensors were telling them. "A giant robot with a cannon shot down the shuttle?" "Why did it spin around?" "Can it see us?" "It's pointing in our direction." "All ahead full!" But by the time the captain gave the order, it was too late, as a massive phaser beam shot from the planet below and tore through the heart of the bird mural on the bottom of the Bird-of-Prey. The enhanced phaser beam went straight through the ship with almost no resistance.

A bright explosion in the sky caught the attention of Enabran's brother. "Wow! Pretty lights!" he exclaimed as he stood by the door.

"I'm sure it's just a supernova somewhere," said Enabran's mom as she led him inside. "Now, get to bed."

"Aww, mom!" He stepped inside, then stuck his head outside. His mom pushed his head back inside.

"Target destroyed," She reported to the Commander. "Retrieving the team. Prep the infirmary. We have wounded. Jingwei, out!" She made the war armor hover over Jidod, then messaged the colony computer for emergency transporter access. Today would not be the day she lost her team.

Hospital,  
the next morning.

The door swung open and Genji walked in, ponytailed hair swinging behind her and brushing against her backpack. She looked at her team, all three of which were on hospital beds. They were covered in bandages and IVs. She stopped in the middle of the room and shook her fingers at them. "Good work on dodging those traps, guys," she chided them. "Ensign Purcell says you avoided a grand total of 0 of them."

"Shut...up..." Isaiah barely said.

"To be fair..unngh..." said Enabran, "you triggered...the...first...trap."

"Yes, I had to save you from your own bad luck," Jidod noted.

"But I'm the only one who completed the mission AND saved your lives! This is why I'm the leader."

"I should be...in...charge," said Isaiah. "I'm the...strongest."

"No, I should be...(breathing heavily) in charge. I'm the (breathing heavily again) best fighter," said Jidod.

"I have...(coughing) 10 gods powering me. I'm clearly the best (coughing)," said Enabran.

Annoyed with her team, she walked up to and kicked each of their beds. "Ughg! ARKGG! BLAUUGN!" they yelped in pain. "Best and strongest, my ass. One spy did all this to you while I was away! One spy!" She shook her finger at them again. "You have two choices; you can follow me to victory, or follow yourselves into an early grave. Which one is it going to be?!"

Silence. She kicked their beds again, causing them to yelp and surrender.

"You...winnn (cough)."  
"I concur. Annggg!"  
"ERAAA...you're the...boss (cough)."

She turned around. "Good. Now stay here until the doctor clears you for duty. I'll tell you about the homework after school." She walked out of the infirmary, her ponytail swinging playfully again as she walked away.

"You have a (cough)... on her," said Enabran.  
"Do...not..." Isaiah barely said.  
"So... do...you," said Enabran to Jidod.  
"Too...much...pain...to answer..."Jidod moaned.

(DBZ episode ending music) Forced to accept her leadership, the New Busan Heroes grudgingly wait for their wounded bodies to heal. Their plans to fight the Q are now on hold since their hated enemy the Romulans has returned. How will the heroes respond? Tune in next time on Star Trek: Colony...


	20. Revenge

Opening sequence: Same as the previous episode until the fight scenes. Enabran fights the cave creatures, then Isaiah beats the Q junior with the shower rod, Genji shooting missiles at Enabran, Jidod fighting the Klingons, Jidod wrecking Isaiah, and Isaiah and Genji fighting together. The background goes black and the symbol of the Tal Shiar floats by at the kzzst! sound effect. The title screen appears with Genji at the lead position. The screen flashes and the head of the robot replaces her, eyes glowing red. Cut to commercial.

High school classroom,  
The next day,

The students took their seats as Ms. Tallk entered the room. She looked at the class. "We will begin soon," she said. "Put all the weapons in the weapons locker."

Isaiah got up and put his sword in the weapons locker. Jidod hung the bat'leth on its hooks.

"All the weapons."

Enabran got up and put the orb box on the shelf next to Isaiah's sword. Genji put her MWA access card in a cute handmade pouch attached to a hook.

"ALL the weapons!"

Earl got up and put his squirt gun on the shelf.

"ALL the weapons!"

Earl reached into his pocket and took out a slingshot.

Ms. Tallk shook her head. "All of them!"

"Better safe than sorry," Earl said as he reached into his shirt and pulled out a ball attached to his neck by a string. He juggled it once. The radiation symbol was on the ball and as he put it on the shelf, she saw the words 'nuclear grenade' written on the side.

She rubbed the back of her ears briefly. "It's like I'm disarming Quo'nos…" she muttered, then turned on the shield.

She went over the roll and today's lesson plan, and was about to start teaching when a call came in.

"Ms. Tallk," said the principal on the intercom, "tell the hero team to head to Starfleet special security right away."

She sighed and pressed the button. "Alright. Arm up." She turned off the shield.

Section 31 planning room,  
Five minutes later.

Commander Pense waited until the last officer under his command sat down. Then he started his briefing. "We received some intel from Intelligence concerning the Tal Shiar. Their sources in the Empire say that Tal Shiar command is pretty mad about losing their ship."

"Maybe they shouldn't try to kill us, then!" loudly stated Isaiah. "This is like the 2nd time they tried to mess with us."

"Quite." He pushed a button and the screen came on. A map of Romulan space appeared. The image zoomed in on a point. Images of Romulan birds-of-prey being constructed appeared on the screen. "They're building a war fleet. I have no doubt in my mind that those ships will come here. We are not waiting for a third attack."

"What do you have in mind?" Genji asked.

"We're going to send a message. A harsh one."

"Typical Federation," Jidod said with a grunt. "You always fight with words when fists are much more to the point."

"True. But we are not typical Federation, now are we?" He zoomed in on a star near the border, then on a point on the planet in that star system. "Why don't we knock on their doors for a change?"

Red dwarf system 1ly from Carraya IX,  
five hours later.

The open-space drydock staff in the command room kept a close eye on their projects. The shipbuilding process had a lot of literal moving parts and many things with contents under pressure. The Tal Shiar leadership would brook no excuses for delays not related to mechanical failures. It was their focus on the shipbuilding slaves floating around the dock that cost them at a crucial moment.

One attentive guard turned his attention from watching the Reman slaves to a proximity alert on the space sensor system. The technician looked at the alert and waved over the commander.

"Something has entered our space," the Romulan technician said.

The commander ducked under a poorly placed door frame and walked to the viewscreen. "Show me what you have found," the commander said tersely. The technician transferred the sensor data to the viewscreen. It showed the current and expected flight path as a white line heading towards their station. "Visual," said the commander. The screen switch to a visual of a red giant robot flying at them. "What fresh hell is…" The large rifle in the robot's hand started pointing at the camera. "Raise shields!"

The shields had raised when the first beam arrived. The beam from Jingwei's rifle tore right through them and punched straight through the large battleship being built in the open-space drydock. Almost immediately after, a projectile moving close to the speed of light tore through the drydock's command and control center. The whole structure exploded in a massive fireball that briefly surpassed the brightness of the nearby suns.

The fourteen ships floating nearby, Birds-of-Prey of many sizes, saw what happened and their weapon systems came online rapidly. The crews shook themselves from the shock of seeing a massive structure like the spacedock taken down with two shots and readied their ships for battle. Viewscreens everywhere filled with the video of the approaching dangerous enemy. "What is that thing?!" "It's a mech suit!" "Mech what?!" Crews and captains shouted. But their confusion only served to give the MWA time to fire again. Another Bird-of-Prey exploded, the victim of a single shot from the phaser cannon.

The ships began moving to intercept the giant robot Jingwei. Genji smiled fiercely. "Come into my killzone, said the spider to the flies." She pulled the trigger again. The rifle's bottom barrel glowed brightly in seven spots, the magnetic rail coils warming up for a quick shot. This being space, the round made no noise as it left the rifle, but the firing made a thunk sound in the robot's structure, that echoed into the cockpit. The round bounced off a ship's shields. _Guess I can't use that until their shields are down_, she realized. She continued her charge and spun the robot as she passed through their defensive formation, firing her arm cannons. The arm cannon's explosive bursts smashed against the shields of the ships. Plasma torpedoes flew by her, barely missing the large robot frame.

She changed course almost on a dime and turned around to strafe and pummel the fleet. The Romulan vessels began turning as well. The computer studied the flight paths of the ships and showed her what to expect. They were making a circle around her. She saw a potential attack point and pushed the robot forward. The Birds-of-Prey began firing disrupter pulses at her. With little effort she was able to dodge them, her robot's profile, speed, and maneuverability being far faster than the slow pulses. As Jingwei changed direction, the inertia dampeners struggled to keep up with the insane G forces from the movements. The forces tugged at her body as she struggled to keep dodging and go to the attack point.

Jingwei flew over the formation and stopped almost instantly. Disrupter pulses, guided by assuming computers, flew past. It was too late for the ships in front of her. A phaser cannon beam tore through the top ship in the formation, then through the next three below it. The beam and subsequent string of explosions looked like one of those 'connect the dot' pictures.

Panic set in the fleet. "All units! Cloak and follow pattern Freddy 41!" ordered the commander. The ships changed their movements and cloaked. Genji looked on as the ships moved in a circle around her and disappeared. She stopped the robot. That was a big mistake, she thought. "Jingwei, sensor sweep."

"Commencing sensor sweep."  
"And increase shield power to max."  
"Shields to max."

Jingwei crouched slightly inside the shield bubble. Ships decloaked and fired disrupter bolts and photon torpedoes from various angles, then cloaked again. Jingwei tanked many hits as the sensors located the cloaked ships. Rumbling sounds echoed in the cockpit as the hits took their toll on the shields. She watched the shield indicator with concern as the percentage remaining dropped with each hit. When it got to 25%, she considered dodging. But Jingwei had other ideas. Targeting blips appeared on the battlefield environment screen. "Finally." All targets locked. appeared on her main screen. She looked around, the camera view changing with her rotating chair. The stars and debris were mixed with the red blips of the cloaked circling Birds-of-Prey.

With a burst of afterburner speed, Jingwei flew out of the formation and turned off the shield, then rotated upside down to face the fleet head first. Two rectangular pods popped up from the left and right side of the back, a bit below the shoulders. Photon torpedoes flew out of the pods and zigzagged on pre-programmed paths to their targets. The Romulans were confident their cloaks would protect them. They almost immediately realized how wrong they were when the first torpedo hit a ship. Panic yells to decloak went through the fleet as the torpedoes closed in, but it was too late. The torpedoes struck shield deflectors, knocking them out of commission along with their engines. The ships decloaked and floated completely vulnerable.

Genji smiled and switched the cannon to railgun mode. Round after round flew from the cannon, passing through vulnerable sections of the ships. A ring of exploding ships appeared in the space above her. "Mess with the Feds, wind up dead like the rest," she said. She activated the Federation's subspace radio. Commander Pense appeared on the screen. He was standing on the bridge of a ship with lots of open room space behind him.

"What's your status?" he asked.

"Surely, you can see my work from your position," she replied.

"We're a bit farther out for the light to reach us," he replied, "but I was curious about how Jingwei is handling our equipment."

Genji looked at the internal sensor data. "I wish the rifle would recharge faster, and we need a hard counter for shields with the railgun. And more photon torpedoes."

"You always want more photon torpedoes. They don't exactly grow on trees, you know?" The crew behind him started laughing. "Just use more of your missiles. Anyway, RTB."

"RTB?"

"Sorry, RTS. Return to ship. Your part is done. It's your team's turn to shine."

The robot floated straight up. Two warp nacelles popped up from the back of Jingwei's legs until they were pointing ninety degrees from its back. Its legs straightened. The warp drive engaged and she headed off head first to Section 31's cloaked ship.

Romulan Tal Shiar base on Nequencia, 50km from main city,  
A few minutes later.

Isaiah and Jidod tugged at their dark hooded cloaks as they approached the sprawling two-kilometer-wide dome. The snow pelted their faces as they approached.

"I can't help but think that this is a bad plan," Jidod said.

"Of course you would say that," said Isaiah. "It's my plan."

"It's a bad plan regardless of who said it."

"Bad plan for everyone else but me." Isaiah stepped up to the hatch and knocked on the door.

"Only an idiot would knock on the door of a secret military base."

blink vsssh! The door slid opened and two Romulan guards stood at the entrance. Isaiah looked back and smiled. "Because it's the easiest way in!" he said. He looked at the guards. "Time for you to die." He raised his palms and shot them both through the head.

"After you," said Jidod.

"Try to keep up." Isaiah walked inside as Jidod removed his cloak and took out the bat'leth.

"Just happy to be inside at last. Klingons are not made for winter."

Like wheat before the thresher, the Tal Shiar spies and soldiers fell to their combined attacks. After getting lost twice, they found themselves in the open training ground in the middle of the dome. A trail of dead Romulans marked their grisly path. A Romulan woman ran from one of the barriers used for combat training to a door to their right. Isaiah's sensors detected life signs at the door. Using his gravity manipulation tech, he levitated the screaming woman above the door leading to a tunnel. The door swung open and armed Romulans poured out. whump! He slammed the floating woman onto the charging Romulans, knocking them all down. They walked over to the stunned Romulans. One fired a shot at Jidod. With a quick swipe of his blade, he batted the disrupter bolt back to the shooter, vaporizing him instantly. Isaiah knelt down next to a Romulan who was pushing himself off the floor. "Hey, wanna see the inside of the sun?" he asked the fallen Romulan.

"And this is where I leave. Back in five minutes," said Jidod. He swung his sword three times and made a portal.

Isaiah stood up and raised his hands. {Computer, show them the sun,} he ordered.

{Antimatter release protocol engaged. What explosive radius?} the computer asked.

{Four kilometers.}

Then men screamed as Isaiah began to glow, and then so did the whole room as antimatter particles collided with air molecules. And thusly, they got to experience the full power of the atom firsthand.

Jidod returned five minutes later. Isaiah was hard at work, using a phaser beam to sketch something into the crater. "Finished?" he asked Isaiah.

Isaiah drew the last line and dot. "Now I am," he replied. "Time to go?"

"Blowing up the other city here wouldn't be dishonorable. But we have our orders."

Isaiah flew down to him in the crater. "I guess. We've made our point clear anyway."

Jidod spun and swung the blade. The portal opened up and they returned to their HQ.

The citizens at the city nearby wondered what all the rumbling was about. So did the Tal Shiar. They tasked a satellite to fly over the military base. The crater sent them into a tizzy, but it was the message that Isaiah left behind that truly chilled their blood. Written in Federation standard was the following: Next Time, It's Romulus.

Epilogue

The Romulans did not venture outside of the neutral zone into their neighbor's space for a long time after that incident, until 2364 when a Romulan Dideridax Bird-of-Prey confronted the USS Enterprise-D. Because of how secretive the Romulans were, historians and policymakers had only idle speculation and rumor to work with. The Romulans themselves certainly weren't talking. Perhaps they had a good reason...


	21. Destabilization

Opening sequence: starts the same way as the previous episode. During the fight scenes, include the scene of Jingwei torpedoing the birds of prey. The black background comes up. A transparent image of Isaiah screaming with a cracked head crystal appears, drifting from left to right at the Kzzsst! sound effect. Cut to the Title card with Isaiah in the middle position. His stance and eerie reddish glow remain the same. Cut to commercial.

Dave collective training ground,

first day of 2297.

The sweat from Isaiah's shirtless body made a thin cloud of steam rise into the air. Today's training program had him producing a lot of steam as he clashes swords with two Level 8 swordsmen. As he was finishing off the last one, Enabran flew in and landed nearby.

Isaiah swiped the imaginary blood from his sword as the hologram faded away, and he turned to face Enabran.

"So this is where you've been spending your free time," Enabran pointedly said.

"What's it to you?" said Isaiah as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I was wondering why we had not had any planetquakes or property damage lately. So I see you've finally found a decent outlet for your aggression."

Isaiah paced around the floor like a pent up tiger. "Oh don't worry. I can make the planet shake just fine. Probably better than you and your five friends."

"Is that a fact? Care to make a bet on that wager?" Enabran could hear the Pa Wraiths pleading with him not to fight, but he tampered down their voices. This was a fight he wanted, especially since he couldn't go to the last one.

Genji shouted "Hey! No fighting! We need everyone ready to fight the Q!"

"It's OK," said Isaiah. "I wouldn't mind teaching him a lesson now, either." He rested the blade on his shoulder as he continued the pacing. "But he doesn't have a sword."

"You let me worry about that," said Enabran. "Besides, your aim is so poor you cannot cut the ground."

Genji looked at Eight of Dave. The drone lowered the force field. She looked back at the grounds as Enabran walked inside. She saw him clench his fists.

"Gonna fight me with your bare hands?" Isaiah asked.

Enabran raised his right arm. SAKASSH! A red blade of bright demonic energy formed around his fist, extending up to three feet. It was more of a stabbing blade rather than a sword. He pointed it at Isaiah. "You are not the only one that has improved."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to be impressed." He tilted his head slightly.

"How about now?' Enabran swung his left arm in a whip motion. Another energy blade appeared from his left hand.

Genji shouted "Hey! We can't fight the Q if we kill each other! Make this a non-lethal match!"

Enabran looked at her. "Agreed." He looked at Isaiah. "First one to make five cuts wins!"

"Fine by me!" Isaiah shouted and rushed towards Enabran, sword pointed horizontally. When he got close he swung the blade up and then diagonally at him, aiming to cut off his right arm. slang! Enabran crossed his blades and blocked Isaiah's swipe. Enabran pushed hard upward, knocking the blade upward. He lowered his arms quickly and swung then in a backhand slash. Isaiah quickly stepped away from the slash but was a hair too slow. Enabran had barely drawn first blood.

Isaiah looked down at the tiny spurts of blood from his chest. Annoyed, he knelt slightly down, pointed his right shoulder at Enabran and held the sword in his right hand, pointed behind his body in a quick-draw stance. He's fast. But I'm far faster like this! "A lucky move. Get ready. I'm bout to carve you into kibbles bits!" whswhshwssh! Isaiah stepped forward and swung the sword rapidly from the hip using his enhanced speed techniques. Enabran had some trouble spotting the blade's rapidly changing directions but was able to block. That was when Isaiah noticed a weakness in the blade-covering hand style. On a downward strike, he stopped the blade upon being blocked. He twisted the blade with his wrist, making it perpendicular with Enabran's blade, then swung down as he took a step forward. scrip! It cut through Enabran's arm armor and sliced off a patch of skin. Blood sprayed from the wound as Enabran stepped back. Isaiah had drawn second blood.

Enabran checked the wound and turned his attention back to Isaiah. He bent his knees tightly and brought his hands down by his chest. psshs! He sprang forward with a speed that caught Isaiah off guard. He threw a rapid combo of stabs at Isaiah, forcing him to step back and parry the barrage with his sword.

From Isaiah's position, it looked like Enabran was pushing him back. In truth, he was allowing him to push him back. Using his enhanced vision, Isaiah looked for a pattern or a weakness in the combo that he could exploit instead of having to rapidly parry everything. It told him Enabran has a gap of 10 milliseconds between punches. It was all Isaiah needed. Got you! vlang! As expected Isaiah parried the strike on his left but instead of blocking the next one, he stopped moving backward, brought the sword horizontal and slashed at Enabran's stomach. Enabran spun out of the way to the left and swung his foot up as he did. An energy blade extended from his foot. What the? But it was too late. shring! The blade glanced off Isaiah's forehead crystal. Isaiah's quickly yanked his head back to dodge, avoiding a more serious slash across his forehead. He stepped back and prepared to strike back.

That was when his head started throbbing with the worst headache of his life. He dropped his sword and gripped his forehead. A strange red cloud emitted from his crystal. "Unnggh!" he groaned. Alert messages about the crystal filled his vision. He became enraged from the intense pain and feelings that he yelled in anger and picked up the sword. "I'll kill youu!!" he screamed.

"You are leaking fluid," said Enabran. He raised his arms. "You should take a break."

"No!"

"That haze coming from your forehead is not safe."

"I can still fight!"

Genji blew the airhorn. Isaiah instinctively lowered his sword. "That's it! The training session is over!" she yelled. "You're leaking everywhere!" She whipped out her communicator. "Computer, emergency transport! Send everyone to the lab!"

"But I-" Isaiah tried to speak up but the transporter light had enveloped them.

Nana was in the lab. She screamed when she saw her son leaking dilithium gas everywhere, then she raced to the shelf with the tools and took out a laser patch kit. She quickly patched the crack and the seeping toxic gas faded away. "Whew! That was close!" she said after wiping her brow.

"What's the damage?" asked Genji.

"A millimeter more and the whole crystal would have cracked! Then we would've lost antimatter containment and kaboom. Everyone dies."

"Don't worry mom I- augh!" His head ached more when she tried to remove the crystal.

"I have to remove the crystals!" Nana said sternly.

"Don't worry! It's fine!" Isaiah said. He got up from the sarcophagus. "Now watch me power up!" He focused on activating the crystals' antimatter reactions and failed to notice Genji talking on her communicator. He raised his palms to make a light ball. Nothing happened. Warning messages about power flow flooded his mind. "What?! My powers are gone!" He shouted as he looked at his plain, powerless hands.

"You've become too obsessed!" said Nana. "It's like you're addicted or something!" She shook his fingers at him. "We gave you these powers so you could fight for the Federation, not for foolish pride! I'm starting to wonder if you can handle the responsibility! We can give your crystals to someone else, you know!"

He raised his fist. "No! They're my power! What I am without them?!" He grabbed her by the shirt collar. "You MUST-" He was about to say something more when Jidod grabbed his fist from behind.

"That's enough!" Jidod said strongly. He wrapped his other arm around Isaiah's neck and pulled him away. "Where do you want him?"

"Put him in the chamber!" she said.

Jidod dragged him over despite Isaiah's kicking and shaking. Then he threw him inside. Isaiah tried to climb out. Jidod pushed him back in.

Enabran raced over and grabbed him. "I've got his arms!"

Jidod went back and grabbed him. "I've got his legs."

"NO! You can't do this to me! I'm the HEERROOO!" Isaiah shouted.

Genji jumped into the sarcophagus with him, putting her legs on his sides to pin the struggling teen down. She reached into her pockets and put on her dense metal knuckle bracers. "Settle! Down!" she said while punching him with both hands. whamp whamp Again and whamp wham whack again. "You! Have! To! Calm! Down!"

"Alright alright!" Nana shouted. "You can stop hitting my son!"

"One! More! To! Be! Cer! Tain!" She replied with every hard punch.

"That's enough brain damage for one day! He's had enough!"

Genji stopped punching and looked at his face. His right eyes was closed, his nose looked broken and he bled from various spots around his face. Tenderized would be a good adjective to describe his face right now.

"See? This is why he's such a mess now!" Nana complained.

"Ah, I see." Genji said as she climbed out of the sarcophagus. "What's next?"

"Now we decide whether to enhance his abilities or remove them," she said as she walked over to the sarcophagus.

"Please..." Isaiah whispered as he put his hands on the sides of the sarcophagus. Jidod tossed Isaiah's arms back into the sarcophagus. "That's enough out of the human gallery of peanuts," he taunted.

"I know, son, I know." She pressed a button on the datapad and the lid closed. "First, I need to check the logs. You can come to your decision soon."

Jidod, Enabran, and Genji sat around in the lounge of the headquarters while Nana worked in the lab underneath them. It was a tense calm, a silence that spoke volumes.

"We have two choices before us," said Enabran. "Make our crazy friend stronger or too weak to fight."

"I admit," said Jidod as he crossed his arms, "he's a pain in the humanoid butt. We might be better off without him. However, as a warrior, I would rather die on the battlefield than lose my ability to fight."

"True. And we will need his jamming ability to fight the Q," said Enabran.

"I'm fairly certain we can replicate the jamming effect with the tech we have around the base," said Genji. "He is suffering because he wants to fight too much."

"He's suffering because he loves this colony," said Jidod. "Probably as much as his own pride. We should give him another chance."

"Why, Jidod of Mogh," said Enabran, "have you developed a soft spot for our human frenemy?"

"Ha!" Jidod said with a snort and looked away from Enabran. "I think it's a great idea to have a powerful distraction. It really helped us against the cyborgs."

"And we don't know how many Q gods we are going to have to fight," said Genji. "Like it or not, we need someone with his power set."

"And ability to absorb damage," said Enabran. He raised his hand level and wiggled his knuckles. Flames danced between the knuckles. "Isn't that what we really want from him or any other human?"

"Hey!" said Genji. She put her hands on her hips.

"What? You are not fond of him, either."

"I take it you've come to a decision?" Commander Pense asked as he entered the lobby and saw them.

"Yes, sir," said Genji as she stood up and faced him. Jidod clutched his blade tightly. She said, "We will ask his mom to get him battle ready."

"A good move. Though I don't think we could get someone ready to fight a god."

"They won't be gods when we fight them," said Jidod. "I can't say if they'll be as soft as Earth kittens."

"Let's hope she makes more changes to his loadout," said Enabran. "Like moving the exposed crystals so they're not as easy to hit."

Commander Pense looked at them. "And are there any concerns about his mental health and wellbeing?" Silence. "Anyone?" The tension was thick enough to make a soup broth. He crossed his arm and growled. "You know, he is a founding member of the team."

"He tried to kill us!" Jidod said as he slammed his hand on the chair.

"Multiple times, I might add," Enabran elaborated.

"Hey, wait a minute! You tried to kill him too!" said Genji.

"He had it coming!" said Jidod.

"It's how we show love on this team," said Enabran. "Humans give flowers, Klingons give headbutts, we give malicious wounds."

Commander Pense shook his head. "Look, TEAM! I understand that you're not Starfleet or any sort of military, but you've got to learn how to work as a team. Or you'll kill each other and the Q will kill us all. I'm not asking for much here, am I?!" he finished his speech and walked away.

A beep on Genji communicator interrupted the tense silence. She answered. It was Nana Oregon. "How's he doing?" she asked Nana.

"Stabilized but I need to know. Do you need him to keep fighting?"

"Yes. Begin the next procedure."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that. Alright. Come into the lab and give me a hand. All of you."

A few minutes later,

Nana picked up two large dilithium crystals and handed them to Enabran. "Normally, I would have Isaiah do this, but he can't," she began. "I need you to use your magic powers to smash these two crystals together to make trilithium."

Enabran took the crystals from her and held them up to the light as if he were inspecting them. "Correct me if I am wrong," he asked, "but I believe doing so would release enough energy to melt the entire planet. Will that be helpful to your son?"

"This is where Mr. Mogh comes in," said Nana. She pointed to the bat'leth. "You need to use the bat'leth's absorption abilities to contain the released energies."

"I have no doubt in my mind that the bat'leth is up to the task," said Jidod, "but I fear that my body is not."

She turned to face Genji. "And this is where Jingwei comes in," she explained. She pointed to the computer console. "Can you remotely activate Jingwei, then set the solar particle engine to rapid absorb? And Jidod, as we begin, can you make a wormhole into Jingwei's solar engine?"

Jidod scoffed. "I see where your son gets his poor planning skills from. I cannot because I do not even know where it is in the damn robot."

She pressed a button on the datapad. A diagram of Jingwei appeared on the viewscreen. A blue dot appeared around the middle of the pelvis region, just below the cockpit. "There. It's not very big so you won't need to make a large one."

"So you want to send a stream of dangerous exotic particles into a warp of space full of dangerous exotic particles, into an alien-made engine we barely understand?" Enabran asked. He did the Cardassian eye spin, then said "Does Starfleet allow such ludicrous plans to go forward?"

Nana winked. "Of course. You should read Captain's Log by Captain Sulu. You wouldn't believe the ways he had to save the ship, the planet, the galaxy...etc."

"I think you just made the Pa Wraiths afraid, Mrs. Oregon."

"Anyway, what am I supposed to do with the excess energy?" asked Genji.

"I'll need you to hold it there for 30 minutes, then channel it to its replicator. You're going to make boronite."

"Wow, OK..."

"And then Enabran and Isaiah are going to make Omega molecules."

"Let me ascertain this with clarity. You want me to make the most dangerous compound in the known universe, with our most dangerous member, to put into our most dangerous member, to fight the most dangerous beings in existence? Is that the plan? To kill ourselves before the fake gods do?" Enabran asked. "Forgive me for saying this but the evil gods in my head are laughing so hard I can't hear myself think."

Nana walked behind the sarcophagus holding her son. "I wish Gabriel were here to explain this stuff better, but we can't wait. This is the only way to get my son ready."

"We won't let you down, Mrs. Oregon," said Genji.

"But if we fail," said Jidod, pointing at the various dangerous things in the room, "the entire Alpha and Beta quadrants could be destroyed." He tapped his bat'leth to the floor, making a clanging sound. "We will not fail this day!"

After she got everyone in position, she activated the sarcophagus and knelt down behind it.

"Hiding from the inevitable explosion?" asked Enabran.

"I'm allergic to radiation," said Nana. A shield went up between the two groups.

Genji turned from the console. "Jingwei is ready," she said.

Jidod swung his bat'leth three times. The wormhole opened up and he held the bat'leth over Enabran's hands. "I am ready."

"And...go!"

Enabran made the crystals glow bright red, then a blinding light came from his hands. A strong breeze filled the room, shaking chairs and equipment and making it hard to hear. "Wow..." he exclaimed as fire danced from his hands around the crystals. The blinding light went into bat'leth. Jidod grunted and struggled to hold the weapon steady as massive amounts of energy poured into his body.

"Urgh...now!" The left tip of the bat'leth glowed white and then the stream shot into the wormhole.

Genji looked at the data coming in from Jingwei. "It's working!"

"Almost...done...!" said Enabran. He began pushing the glowing crystals together.

The wormhole flickered. "We have to hurry!" Jidod shouted.

"Almost there...Ah!" shakoooosshh! The light immediately dimmed and the roaring winds faded. The wormhole closed and Jidod flopped to the floor. Enabran was breathing heavily yet he still smiled. He opened his hands. Five small light-gray glowing crystals appear in his hands. "It worked!"

Nana stood up. "Put those on the sarcophagus. Now it's my turn." She put a few other interesting devices on the sarcophagus. "I'll get these attached right away, along with these other useful goodies." She wiped the long hair from her face and pressed some buttons on the datapad. "Thanks for your help, kids."

"Anytime, Mrs. Oregon," said Jidod as he stood up.

"Is that a polaric ion generator?" Genji asked when she saw the symbol on one of the gray cylinders on the sarcophagus. "Aren't those banned."

Enabran pushed her forward, towards the door. "Let's get out of here before she asks us to install a big bang bomb," he said.

The next day, Isaiah's mind became active. He saw himself hovering in orbit above the earth. For a few seconds, a symbol he never saw before appeared across the European and African continent. It was a picture of the Earth with a sword running from top to bottom. Then he saw his dream self aim its hands at the Earth. An intense, massive ball of energy came from his hands. It flew down and went through the planet, which then exploded silently into a thousand pieces. He looked at his dream self's face. It looked like he was screaming in rage or laughing hysterically. A finger tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and he was face to face with Q junior.

"Was there any doubt that this would be your fate?" he asked sarcastically. Then he flicked Isaiah on the forehead.

Isaiah woke up and sat straight up in the sarcophagus, his face full of sweat. A gasp came from the right and he turned his head. He heard the datapad drop to the floor. Sitting next to him was Genji.

"Oh, you're awake!" said Genji.

"Yeah... I'm feeling much better," said Isaiah.

"Say thank you!" shouted Nana from the other room.

"Uh...thanks," said Isaiah.

Genji took his hand in her soft yet strong hands. "No problem. It's what teammates do." She picked up the datapad. "You mom says the radiation was affecting your brain, so she changed out the crystals for trilithium." She handed him the datapad. "Read this, and (sniff, then waved her hand) take a shower!" She pinched her nose and got up. "You smell like spoiled milk!"

Isaiah sniffed and grunted. "Wow, I'm pretty rank!"

"Yeah, take a shower then call us when you're ready to work."

"Work?!" He climbed out of the sarcophagus and realized he was on in his underwear. "What's going on?"

Genji turned around to ignore his near nudity. "You're not done with enhancements. We've got some crazy stuff to do." She walked to the door. "Now get in that shower before the mayor has you recycled."

"I got it I got it!" He ran to the door. More power! Wonderful! he thought. But that dream...He tried not to dwell on it as he got to the bathroom.

{Dragon ball Z episode ending music starts playing}

Isaiah is out of the coma and no longer out of his mind. But is the team out of danger? Can they generate an Omega molecule, technology that Starfleet itself would violate the Prime Directive to keep from happening? Or will they accidentally cause the death of the Alpha Quadrant? Tune in next week for another thrilling episode of Star Trek: Colony.


	22. The Forge

Opening Sequence: Same as last week. At the black background, a faded image of Section 31 symbol, the borg drone Eight of Dave, K'mtar, and the four-eyed Pa Wraith drift down from the top of the frame. At the title screen, Genji is in the middle with Isaiah on the right and Jidod on the left. Jidod and Isaiah are facing each other with an angry expression on their faces, as if they are going to fight. The screen flickers to all black briefly and Jingwei's head has replaced Genji. Jidod and Isaiah are back to the normal poses. Cut to commercial.

Meeting room, Hero HQ,

one week later, 3:00PM

The room quickly became crowd as Section 31 operatives stood behind the seated New Busan heroes. "We really need a bigger meeting room," said Enabran.

"Everyone's here," said Commander Pence. "Purcell, you may begin."

"Yes, sir." Purcell stood up and stepped to the podium. The crowd quieted down, for they knew the seriousness of today's briefing. "As you know already may know, we have encountered the god-like beings called the Q. Our colony's hero-"

"Strongest hero!" said Isaiah.

"Yes... strongest hero, was able to drive off the younger and older Qs from the Springfield. We've suspected that they live in another dimension, given that they vanished without a trace during the encounter. Today," he pressed a button and a stream of data appeared on the viewscreen behind him, "we learn where. Despite the damage Isaiah inflicted on the ship-"

"I didn't do it!" Isaiah replied.

"Yes you did! You rammed them through the hull and beat the teenager unconscious with a shower rod!" Genji slapped Isaiah in the back of the head. "Thank you. Anyway, despite the damage, we were able to get readings on their abilities. We didn't know how to interpret them so we called in some help."

nnerrow! Eight of Dave transported into the room, appearing next to Ensign Purcell. Immediately, the operatives and others reached for their weapons. "Calm down," said Commander Pense. "It's here to help us. I cleared it personally with Section 31."

"I am, I was," the drone started to say. "I was one of you, but now I am drone eight of the Dave collective."

"Dave is...there?" asked a female security officer standing in the back.

"Yes. But his mind, our minds, are fragmented. We are only partially aware of our pasts. Refer to me as Eight for now."

K'mtar stood up and shouted "A Borg can never be a person! You are an abomination now! Regardless of whether you are free of the collective, a Borg drone is always a risk to return!" He drew a dagger from his pocket. "We must kill this drone before it compromises our operation!"

"You speak as if you are knowledgeable of the collective," said Eight. "Were the Klingons aware of the collective before their arrival here?"

"I~" everyone looked at him. He quickly put the dagger away and sat down. "No, they were not, to the best of my knowledge."

"We'll pull on that thread later, K'mtar," said Commander Pense. He looked at the drone. "Eight, can you explain your role in our operation?"

"Precisely," said Eight. He pressed a button on his eyepiece and a hologram filled the air over the table. It was a holographic representation of the asteroid Isaiah chased the Q to. "When the two Q disappeared, their energy signature was recorded by the ship's sensors. The Dave collective was able to find the data regarding their exit from our dimensional plane. With our help, we can build a device that can access the Q Continuum and launch an extermination strike on their populace."

"So we are in the business of genocide now?" asked Genji.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Ensign Purcell.

"If you can come up with a better way of keeping crazy powerful entities from destroying the Alpha Quadrant over a grudge, then I'm all ears," said Pense.

"This is also where Eight can aid us," said Purcell. "With their help, we were able to build this." The hologram changed to a hologram of a cylinder about three meters tall and a meter wide. It was egg white with a series of dark-colored slat marks around the two meter part. To 21st century humans, it would make them think it was a massive E-cig. "This is a wide area jamming device that can replicate Isaiah's jamming effect on the Q. Based on the fight, we know they have no defense to this sort of jamming."

"Otherwise, they would have paid us a visit by now," said Austin Pense.

"So what do you want us to do with it?" Enabran asked.

"Jingwei will place the device and activate it. With the Q weakened, you should be able to deal with them."

"How effective will the jammer be?"

"That is a very important part of the equation," said K'mtar as he crossed his hands. "The Q will not spare us if they have enough power to take us out."

Eight spoke up. "It is a risk, but based on the data collected, we believe their abilities will be reduced by 99% for the six-hour duration of the device."

"Speaking of risks," Jidod asked, "how are we supposed to survive in the Q Continuum? Is there a breathable atmosphere? Do you expect me to hold my breath for 6 hours?"

"The Dave collective has crafted three cosmium battle armor schematics. These suits will allow you to fight at full power and match their dimensional wavelength. Otherwise, you would fall through their dimension and wind up drifting through subspace for eternity."

"That would be bad," Jidod replied.

"Naturally, it would be," said Austin. He clapped and stood up. "What do you need us to do to get ready, Mr. Eight?"

"I will need an omega molecule to charge the devices," said Eight. Jaws dropped in the room. "Why are you surprised? Isaiah Oregon has one in his body right now."

Everyone looked at Isaiah. "What? You think I can't handle that kind of power?" he asked rhetorically.

"How did you put it in him?" Austin asked Nana, who was standing behind her son.

"Because it's unstable, we put in a miniaturized subspace isolation field generator powered by the fluctuations of the molecule. It's half in subspace, half in the regular universe. It's much more stable this way."

"Excellent," said Pense. "Ensign Purcell, take a few engineers to Replicator bay 1. Your team will build the cosmium armor. Ensign James, (He turned to face the tall human) take a few engineers to Replicator bay 2. I want that jammer built and operational by the hour. Genji, take the MWA over there too since you'll have to carry it."

"Yes, sir!" said James and Purcell.

"Ensign BzzBaht Kallak, take Jidod and K'mtar and a team to Replicator bay 3. I want the continuum breacher ready in an hour."

"YEssSiirrr!" said the Bzzit Khaht as he stood up.

"Isaiah, Enabran, you're with me and Eight here. Together we will go to Replicator bay 4 to make the components for the omega particle energy transfer."

"And," the drone explained, "to make Verterium cortenide. This will gives your suits warp capability."

Enabran looked shocked. "You want to give us warp drive? Is that possible?"

"You are powered by magical bull* according to my student. It is theoretically possible for you, but you will have to regulate your power output properly."

Enabran looked at Isaiah. "You said something negative about me to the borg drone?"

"Uh..."

"No time like the present. Everyone to your stations!" said Pence and the crews separated.

Replicator Bay 4,

an hour later.

Isaiah adjusted his levitation ability and the solid crystal of cortenum rotated around until it faced vertically. Enabran walked over and pushed the verterium block past the shield. It hovered next to the cortenum.

"It is ready," said Eight. "I am injecting the schematic to you, now."

A data package appeared in Isaiah's vision. He thought about it and code appeared on a pop-up window to the right side of his vision. Since he didn't understand it, he closed the pop-up window. "I think I got it."

"You may begin. However I suggest you follow instructions precisely. If your replication field goes above-"

"Yeah yeah I know."

"Son, don't backsass Mr. Eight!" said Nana with a sharp tone.

"Whatevs. Starting countdown."

The crystals soon became surrounded by the replication field coming from his hand. Then the crystals vanished and the glow disappeared. The glow in the shield bubble returned a moment later, becoming very bright. Enabran and the others covered their eyes. The glowing and energy transmutation sounds stopped a moment later. 3 mini warp nacelles, shaped like a drink tumbler with the characteristic dark blue outer frame, hovered in his hands.

Eight walked over to Isaiah while looking at the crystals. "Did it work?" Isaiah asked.

"We believe so," said Eight. He pointed to the table with the brown box. "Put them in the water for cooling. They will be ready in thirty minutes." He walked over to the replicator controls. "Take a break. We will restart in 2 minutes 45 seconds."

Isaiah shook his arms. "Whew. That was hard work," he said.

"Your computer did 90% of the work," Enabran chided him.

"Hey at least I'm doing something!" Isaiah responded. "What have you been doing all day anyways?

"Besides reshaping verterium into the proper shape?" said Enabran. "That and guaranteeing our victory!" He looked at him with squinted eyes.

Isaiah crossed his arms. "And how are you getting that done?"

"I've been talking to the Pa Wraiths," Enabran began. "They have agreed to help us, at a high cost to myself, of course."

"But they're the bad guys!" said Isaiah.

"Yes, but they're our bad guys. And besides, they want to help the Alpha Quadrant."

"What does help mean?

"It's a card in our hand we get to play if we need to," Austin replied.

The replicator bay filled with the light of replication as parts of the omega molecule energy siphon appeared. "Follow my instructions to the letter," said Eight. "Otherwise a single mistake will cut us off from the Federation for decades."

Enabran looked at his datapad. "It appears I have more work to do," he said as he walked to the pile of parts with the other Federation workers.

"What can I do?" asked Isaiah.

"You can get us some iced tea from the mess hall in the headquarters," said Austin. "We will call you when we need you."

Isaiah the hero of the colony sulked away softly from the replicator bay. Then he smiled. He was happy to be out in the afternoon sun again, even with the light flutter of snowflakes landing on his forehead. After picking up a box of drinks, he left the HQ. A stray snowflake got in his eye and he shook it out. When he opened his eyes again, he was looking to his right, at the corner of one of the replicator bays. There he saw Genji and Jidod standing by the corner, in the shade. Genji leaned into him and Jidod hugged her with his brawny arms. The sight of them together gave him a strange feeling in his stomach, a feeling he could not tell what it was. He was about to determine that feeling when brrt! his head communicator picked up a call.

"Where are those drinks?" Austin asked. "We need you back now."

"Coming!" Thoughts about the budding love between his teammates soon drifted from his mind. Thoughts of how to transfer omega molecule energy without blowing up the sector filled his mind.

Spaceport, outdoor landing pad.

5:20PM

The hero team and Section 31 crew dove into the work of preparing the team for war. Sweat dripped from foreheads of all bodies as delicate machines and armors were slapped together, programmed, and charged up. Around 5pm, everything was finished. The hero team put on the cosmium composite armors while the setup team moved everything to the spaceport.

While it was a 'secret' mission, most people in the town knew what was going on. Family members of the hero team showed up on the spaceport. Once Jingwei had landed with the jamming device, the hero team turned to face their families. They looked amazing in their thin yet muscular gray suits with black gloves. The suits had a utility belt that ran across their hips and a small guard that extended down around their groin- a needed feature after what happened with the Borg superfighter. Their helmets covered the back of their head with they gray metallic frame of the suit, but their faces were open.

Enabran's brother Nort walked up to Enabran. "Are you going to be o-o OK?" he asked with a stutter.

"I'm fighting gods with gods and surrounded by lunatics," Enabran explained. "Whatever happens, I am sure it will be exciting."

Enabran's mother gave him a hug and so did Nort. "Please come home, son. The community needs you. You're their hero after all."

"I will do my best, mother."

Isaiah listened as his parents ran through their explanations on the various materials and the nature of extradimensional space. He raised his hands to stop them. "OK, I get it. I get it. Say no more."

"We just want you to come home safely," said Nana.

"And not blow up the entire universe in the process," said Gabriel. She elbowed him. "HYMPH!"

"Either way we'll be proud of you, son," said Nana. "If this is goodbye, I want you to know that."

"It doesn't feel like goodbye to me," said Isaiah. "It feels like I'm going to a tournament."

Jidod's mom walked away as K'mtar began to speak. "This is important: while your powers and fighting ability are strong, you are the weakest member of the team. You will have to fight smart or your allies will put themselves at risk trying to protect you."

"Ridiculous," Jidod replied.

"I know, I know. But you are fighting gods. You will have to punch higher than any Klingon has ever punched before."

"You make it sound like I am about to fight Molor."

"You will be fighting a thousand Molors, each with a thousand blades of all shapes and sizes. And worse yet, each will have egos as titanic as the Serpent of Xol. I swear, they never shut up."

Jidod's head bent sideways, a behavior he learned from the Cardassians. "You speak as though you have met these false gods before. Have you?"

K'mtar realized his gaff quickly and raised his hands. "No, no, nothing of the sort. Just..." He grabbed Jidod's arms and shook them. "It's time for the heroic speech. Rouse their fighting spirits, hero of the Federation."

Jidod shook his head and stepped back. He drew and spun the bat'leth of Kahless above his head four times. He stopped and hovered a meter or two over the landing pad. "It is time, my fellow warriors! We are now mortals who grew to challenge the very gods themselves! They shall tremble before our very might and never touch our galaxy again!" He raised his blade with one hand. "We shall rage against the heavens and carve our names into memory for eternity!"

The Klingons gathered there started chanting "Mogh! Mogh! Mogh!" and soon the humans were chanting to. "WHO IS WITH ME?! WHO DARES TO CHALLENGE THE PUNY GODS? FOLLOW ME TO ULTIMATE VICTORYY!!!!"

"Victory or Death!(stomp)" chanted the Klingons, followed by almost everyone else. Jidod landed and raised his bat'leth above his head. And he stood still as the others behind him chanted.

He stood still for so long that the chanting stopped. Commander Pense walked over to him. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

"How do I open the portal there?" Jidod whispered back.

"Oh, right. You need the continuum breaching device." Pense turned around and waved. A guard ran over with the device and handed it to Pense. It was a small cylinder about the size of a portable pencil sharpener. Pense magnetically attached it to the bat'leth and stepped back. He took out a datapad. "Genji, to your war armor," he ordered and Genji ran off to get into Jingwei. "OK, try it now." He pressed two buttons on the datapad and the device began to hum sharply.

"I can feel it working!" said Jidod. His helmet slid forward and covered his head. He struck the ground once, then quickly ran in a circle around the large painted circle in the middle of the landing pad, away from where the onlookers were standing. This made a grinding sound as the edge dragged along the pavement. When he returned to the spot he started, he stopped running and removed the edge from the pavement. KRRVVOOOSH! The circle he drew became a massive brightly glowing portal.

{music suggestion: DBZ episode ending music)

Jingwei quickly dove into the portal, jamming device in hand, followed by the rest of the hero team. The portal slammed shut behind them, leaving the onlookers behind to hope for success on their war to save the galaxy.


	23. The Q War Part 1

Opening Sequence: Same as last week. At the black background, Q junior floats right to left across the screen at the KZZT! sound. At the title screen, Genji is in the middle with Isaiah on the right and Jidod on the left. Jidod and Isaiah are facing each other with an angry expression on their faces, as if they are going to fight. The screen flickers to all black briefly and Jingwei's head has replaced Genji. Jidod and Isaiah are back to the normal poses. Cut to commercial.

Q Continuum Space,  
Where time does not matter,

Genji opened her eyes to weird noises in the cockpit. Warnings and sirens flared across Genji's screens. Jingwei seemed to be telling her it was surrounded by marshmallows and being crushed by stone walls at the same time.

"What isss Tis Pppllaaacee?" Jingwei's AI asked, its voice sounding fast and slow at the same time.

I have to do this now or my team's dead, Genji thought. "Jammer ON!" Genji commanded. A bright light came from the left hand of Jingwei, surrounding the robot. A moment passed and the light dimmed. She looked around and checked the sensors. Jingwei was kneeling on the ground. Pure white ground. She saw the jammer. It stood upon the white ground, making her think the robot dropped it there. Or maybe it created the ground? Either way, her moment of existential contemplation was interrupted by a radio call.

"Fearless leader?" asked Enabran. "Are you OK in there?"

Genji shook her head and rubbed her face. "Yeah, I think. How about the rest of you?"

"We've been waiting for you," said Isaiah. "You haven't responded in...my computer says three minutes."

"Yeah… Q space is freaky, yeah…"

"So, what is our plan now?" Jidod asked. "I do not see the fake gods Isaiah fought before."

"Is it possible that the jammer's activation destroyed them?" Enabran asked.

_Nothing seems odd or off right now…_ "Jingwei, run basic self-diagnostic, then a passive sensor check," she ordered the robot. "I'll check things out. Wait right here."

Jingwei stood up. She looked around, the cockpit bubble spinning with her and the head unit moving with her. There was nothing but a blank white space around them, an empty desert of nothingness. She activated flight mode and Jingwei began to rise. Some distance information appeared on her screen. She rotated the head to the forward position. The screen had a max distance of 75km visibility under the current conditions. She zoomed in. At the very edge of the horizon, she saw something colored green. Jingwei pointed forward. "There appears to be some grass that way," she said.

"Grass?" asked Jidod. "Why would gods want grass?"

"Perhaps they are human homeowners," Enabran joked, "and have a desire for immaculate lawns."

"Har har, very funny," said Isaiah. "But it's our best lead."

"If there's grass, there's life. If there's life, there's people," Genji replied. "Try flying in that direction."

"What will you do?" Enabran asked Genji.

"I will stay here and guard the jammer."

"Excellent plan!" said Jidod. "I was afraid I would have to pull guard duty."

"Well don't get yourself killed either. You're our ride home."

"Fine with me, commander." Jidod spun his blade four times and started hovering. "We will crush the gods themselves! And be home by dinner! Thus we swear by the name of Kahless!"

He took off first and the other boys took off after him.

"This place is so boring!" said Isaiah as they flew over some green hills. "Are the Q bored?"

"Then we shall give them the most excitement they've had in decades," Enabran answered.

"Perhaps this is the fate of all sentient transcendents," said Jidod. "Boring lives because they think they did it all already."

As soon as the jammer activated, the Q suddenly found themselves standing and sitting around their literal 'town square' in human bodies. Their town square had rows of picnic tables underneath tall green trees, tetherball poles in the distance, and barbecue pits next to the tables. And because they are bored gods, their wardrobe ranged from stripper costumes to togas, to half of an Easter bunny costume, leather outfits from Mad Max movies, and one man wearing a rejected outfit from an episode of Project Runway season 12 (Fans of that show know exactly which outfit...yeah, that one). A potted Viper's bowstring hemp sat on the edge of one of the picnic tables.

"What in our name…?" asked the Q wearing half the Easter bunny costume.

A tall woman wearing a lot of jewelry and tie-dyed frock looked at her hands and said "Our powers have been jammed. We have been almost completely disconnected from the continuum."

"This is ridiculous!" said the Q with graying black hair that rescued his son from Isaiah. He was wearing a starfleet uniform from the 24th century. "What could have possibly led to this occurrence?"

"Let us find out," said a man sitting at the table wearing knee-high furry boots, basketball shorts with chains hanging down from them, a wrestling championship belt with a skull emblem on it, no shirt on, and a backpack with two antennas sticking out of it. So basically he was a mook from _Mad Max Fury Road_. He raised his hands, pointed a finger forward, and drew a square. A holographic screen appeared. He started touching it as if he were pressing buttons.

"What's the holdup?" asked the tall Q with black hair that got his butt whipped by Isaiah.

"Look, buddy," said Mad Max Q, "I haven't touched these manual subsystems since we built them. When was the last time you tried using this without the Akashic record?" Butt-whipped Q grunted. "Ah, found something. You seem to know a lot of humans. Recognize this one?" He turned the screen around. The other Q looked to see or made their own screens.

It showed a live video of Isaiah and his team flying towards them. The screen went to static briefly and then showed an image of Jingwei standing in the white space. The screen cut back to the team flying, this time overhead as they were flying over the hills.

"Isn't that the kid that kicked you and your son's ass?" the male Q wearing the Project Runway dress asked. Butt-whipped Q flinched.

"That jerk is here?!" loudly asked Q junior.

"Oh look, junior! It's your friends!" said the frock-wearing Q. "They've come to play with you!"

The screen went to static again briefly and then came back on. This time, it focused on Jidod, just before he left the planet. "We shall rage against the heavens and carve our names into memory for eternity!" shouted Jidod. "WHO IS WITH ME?! WHO DARES TO CHALLENGE THE PUNY GODS? FOLLOW ME TO ULTIMATE VICTORYY!"

"Victory or Death!(stomp)" chanted the Klingons, followed by the excited humans.

"Oh… they are here to kill us all…oh" said the bunny suit Q. "Not gonna lie... I wasn't expecting to die this way."

A woman wearing a cloak standing by the grill lowered the hood from her head. It was the Q leader. "Nice job, Q," she retorted. "You managed to provoke the Alpha quadrant so much they send their best to kill us."

"I knew your petty love for the humans would ONCE AGAIN lead to disaster," said butt-whipped Q's wife. "You better call Tyron...er, Janeway, and get her here ASAP."

"We do not have any powers!" butt-whipped Q shouted. "How can I get her here without powers?"

"We have some power left," said the leader Q. "Otherwise, we would have fallen into the non-existence zone." She raised her hands. "Maybe we can share enough power to send them back to their world?"

"Computer says no," said the Mad Max Q as he looked at the screen.

The Q leader lowered her hands. "Fine. We will have to reason with them. We still have our intelligence after all."

"Enemy analysis complete. That Mobile War Armor was built by the T'kon. The Klingon is carrying the bat'leth of Kahless. The Cardassian has 5 Pa Wraiths powering him. And the human has 5 trilithium crystals and Borg nanotech running through his body."

"Oh...they are definitely here to kill us...oh," said the buddy suit Q.

"It's like all of our sins have teamed up to fight us," said frock Q.

"Son," said Q's wife, "we told you NOT to mess with the Borg! And you! (points at butt-whipped Q) you said the humans would fight and defeat the Borg for us! (pokes him in the chest with finger) Not the other way around!"

"It'll be OK," said butt-whipped Q as he danced away from her. "We still have Q dawg. He's our best fighter." He looked around. "Q dawg?"

The leader pointed at the plant. "Q Dawg is over there. He was in plant form when they activated the jamming device."

"Talk about getting caught with your pants down," said the stripper outfit Q.

"Then it is settled," said the leader. "We will have to talk them out of killing us all." She crossed her arms. "They might settle for killing the two of you. I certainly would."

Butt-whipped Q sighed. He looked around the park and that's when he noticed the other Q kids standing around his son. They were looking at their hands, then suddenly stopped.

"No!" shouted Q Junior. "We ARE still gods! At least, we four have way more power in our bodies than you lot do." He walked forward. "We will crush these invaders, destroy their jammers, and end the threat of humanity once and for all!"

"No you can't!" his mom shouted. "You will break the timeline!"

"F*** the timeline! F*** the humans!" He passed the barbecue grills.

"They dare to rage against the heavens?" the red haired Q boy next to him asked angrily.

"Then the heavens shall RAGE BACK!" said the dark-skinned almost-bald boy to Q junior's right. He reached into a box by the barbeque grills. He pulled out a massive sword as tall as he was. This sword had no scabbard. Instead, it was wrapped in a long white cloth strap. The sword clipped onto his back, looking as if he were carrying a sword for a small giant.

"I'm going, too!" said a teen wearing a Soviet Union Red Army costume. His parents shouted for him to return.

The boys stopped walking once they got to the sidewalk, forming a line with their backs turned to their parents. "We will show them what true power is!" shouted Q junior. He raised his arms, pulled them down, and grunted loudly. A yellow glow appeared around his body, the result of focused energy flowing around his body, and his hair stood up straight as if the wind were blowing up from the roots. The boy carrying the giant sword started weaving hand signs for a few moments. His body glowed briefly when he banged his fists together to end the powering up sequence. The red-haired boy wiggled his hips twice, his clothes turning into jedi-style robes. The army boy jumped into the air, glowed brightly for a moment, and turned into an iron butterfly. Together, they flew off, leaving a quickly fading golden light trail in their wake.

The Q elders all looked at butt-whipped Q. Butt-whipped Q said "What? I didn't do this!"


	24. The Q War Part 2

The skies above the Q Continuum,  
Four minutes later.

"We've been flying for a while," said Isaiah over the radio. "Nothing but hills so far." They flew in a kind of triangle formation, with Jidod in the lead and the others flying above and to the side of him. They soon started passing over a forest.

"Maybe we are on some big-" Enabran started to say, but his suit's sensor suite notified him. "We have incoming enemies. They have the Q energy signature."

"I thought the Dave drone's tech blocked their powers!" Jidod shouted. "I see them now! There are four of them!"

"There are three of us!" Isaiah replied.

"We need to take one out to keep them away from the jammer!"

Warning lights went off in their suits as they approached the enemies, for the enemies approached them faster than they expected. **WHUMP**! **WHUMP**! **WHUMP**! The Q kids tackled the invaders, splitting them apart from their friends. The butterfly Q continued on, with Jingwei and the jammer his primary target.

Jidod's battle

Jidod got tackled from above. He and his opponent slammed into the forest, tearing thick limbs from their trees. Jidod slammed into the ground. Sore from the crash, he struggled with the pain but managed to get to his feet. He soon realized that he was in a thick section of the forest with barely any light coming from above. This was when he realized that after arriving, he did not see any sun in the sky. He pressed a button and the environmental sound sensors engaged since he dared not take off his helmet. Just because these trees are green doesn't mean they release oxygen, he thought. Now, where's my opponent? He picked up the bat'leth and held it in a swinging stance around his right arm.

**wwhhhss**! He heard something from the left. He swung his bat'leth at the incoming sound. **cling cling cling**! Three metal objects bounced off the blade. He heard one land and looked at it. The suit's computer scanned it and ID'd it as an Earth ninja star. He heard the whsss sound again, from behind and swung his bat'leth around. More ninja stars came at him. **cling cling kling**! Again, he blocked them. This god must be toying with me. He quickly pressed a button on his suit control. The motion sensor map appeared on his suit screen. He turned around quickly and walked to the left as he looked around at the tall trees with thick limbs. But the darkness in the area and the thickness of the trees gave him an effective visibility of 20 meters. A blip appeared on his map, directly behind and above him. Then he heard the sound again. He rapidly made three cuts at the ground where his feet were. He dropped straight into the portal as the ninja stars approached.

He appeared behind someone wearing a dark green colored jumpsuit with a small sword on the back. He swung the bat'leth at the enemy as he fell from the portal. Scrrip! The edge of the blades tore a hole in the enemy's back, barely missing cutting the skin as the enemy jumped away. Jidod had swung with such strength that the bat'leth went right through the tree limb the enemy was standing on. Jidod landed, the massive tree limb barely missing his foot as it came down. The enemy turned around to face him. He was a dark-skinned teenage boy, wearing a headband with a Q symbol on a metal plate. He had a utility belt around his waist and a sword strap around his shoulders.

"You must be their leader," said the ninja Q in a deep voice. "You seem to be the skilled one."

"Regrettably it is not I. The woman in the robot is," said Jidod. "But, it matters not. I will not need her help to crush you." He held the bat'leth with both hands.

The ninja Q laughed and said "Really? By my friend's analysis, you are the weakest. I chose you specifically so I could take you down quickly and back up my friends."

"Because I'm a Klingon, right?"

The ninja Q bent his knees to form a fighting stance. "No, stupid Klingon. Because you're slow in many ways. I am by far your superior."

The ego on this guy, Jidod thought, but I can use that to my advantage...

"Well, if you think you're better at me," he said as he spun the bat'leth around to build up some power, "show me how superior you really are."

The ninja Q bent down like a sprinter and drew a dagger from a pouch. "With. Pleasure." **swishh**! The ninja Q ran circles around him. Jidod could barely keep up with him. Impressive. He's going to strike...now! He spun around with a speed that caught the ninja Q completely off guard as he approached with a dagger to stab him. The Q saw the middle blade of the bat'leth approach his neck and he spun out of the way at 400kph, then used his momentum to swing at Jidod, but was blocked by the continued swing of the bat'leth. The ninja Q retreated and returned to running in a circle. Jidod kept up with the blurry motion and decided to show the punk a thing or two. He started running in a circle as well, until he was moving as fast as the ninja Q. The Q teen looked at the sprinting teen. "What in our name are you doing?!" he yelled at Jidod. Jidod smiled and stepped hard sideways with his left foot, shoving himself at the ninja Q. He jumped, barely avoiding the stab. The Q teen landed on another tree limb, reached into his pouches and pulled out a handful of ninja stars.

This time, Jidod was not going to wait. He unleashed a new technique he learned from training. "I will slice you whao!" the Q teen shouted but had to stop and dodge as the bat'leth flew past his head. "You missed!"

"Did I?" said Jidod with an outstretched hand. **slash**! As the ninja Q turned to check what he meant, the spinning weapon returned and cut deeply into his shoulder as it spun through the air. He fell to his knees and gripped the wounded shoulder as the blade returned to Jidod's left hand. He looked at the blood of the wounded godling and snorted. "So this is the blood of a god?" He swung and the blood hit the ground and evaporated. That was when he noticed his enemy's hand over the wound begin to glow. Soon, the enemy stood before him, wound fully healed.

"How dare you strike me? HOW DARE YOU TOUCH A GOD?!" the ninja Q shouted.

"Psst! You are no god. You are a punk with powers." Jidod readied his bat'leth for the inevitable counter-attack by holding it like an ax.

"I know the strongest fighting styles in history and possess more than enough to break you, stinky Klingon scum!"

"Really? Who taught you?"

The smug ninja Q crossed his arms. "I don't need a teacher. I can download everything from the Akashic records!"

Jidod smiled. "Then come smite me, false god..." his voice was teasing, almost begging for the ninja Q to attack him.

Jidod saw him bend his legs then draw the sword and realized a pounce or lunge was coming. But he did not expect this attack. The ninja Q leaped at him and spun rapidly like a screw in a drill. "Spinning slice attack!" he shouted at Jidod. **whock**! Jidod stepped to the left after he jumped, switch sides of the blade to the flat end and swung down, hitting him with the dull handle side to avoid the blade getting stuck in the side of ninja Q's body. The strong blow knocked the ninja Q to the ground. "UGH!" **thwack**! Jidod's blow bounced him off the ground and he kicked the annoying godling strongly in the stomach. As the ninja Q fell, he grabbed his face with his strong right hand, pulled him forward with a spin and then with an amazing feat of strength, threw him over his shoulder at a tree. **whump**! The ninja Q shook off the damaging blow just in time to see Jidod approaching, the middle blade coming towards his face. **thuck**! He ducked under the blade and dove away, then jumped. He reached into his pouch as Jidod pulled the blade out of the tree. **whhsss**! Knives and daggers flew at Jidod. He swung his bat'leth, knocking projectiles out of the air.

The ninja Q landed horizontally on a tree trunk and stuck to the tree, then ran up the tree to hide in the bushes. He sat still and considered what had happened. Damn it! Why is he so strong? He looked at his hands. Or am I getting weaker? I shouldn't have used this much power so far. He stood up. I have to take him seriously, now. He may have some ability I didn't sense.

"Are you giving up?" the Klingon warrior asked. "I thought you were going to teach me the power of a god!" He looked at his sensor map and realized where the Q was hiding. "Are you using the bathroom? Do I get a bathroom break as well? That's a kindness I wouldn't show an enemy!"

"Why are you so hard to kill?! Where is your power coming from?!" asked the confused Q. "I outclass you physically every which way under the sun! You shouldn't be able to fight me like this!"

Jidod lowered his bat'leth. "Look, kid. You know lots of fighting techniques from the records, but you've never used them. You don't have the experience you learn in training because you've never trained. You probably know a thousand sword moves but not when or how exactly to use them in a fight. Just come down here, let me kill you, and your family will never learn how much you've embarrassed them just now."

"F*** you Klingon scum!" He returned the sword to the scabbard and floated down from the limbs of the tree. "You dare take advantage of me! I will crush you like an ant!"

Jidod raised his weapon. "Heard it all before..." That's it...get angry...throw your power at me.

The ninja began touching his fingers and palms together in a variety of hand signs. "Here, taste the power of a god!" His voice echoed as he spoke the magic words. "KATON! GRAND FIREBALL NUJITSU!" He held his right hand by the front of his mouth and blew. A massive fireball flew out of his mouth.

Jidod stepped back and held his bat'leth steady. The fireball struck the blade and pushed him back. **sccrropp**! The fireball vanished. Jidod swung the blade in a cleaning swipe and held it like an ax again, much to the dismay of the ninja Q. "Got any more tricks up your sleeve?"

"You asked for it!" The ninja Q landed and started weaving hand signs again. His voice echoed slightly when he finished. "RAI-TON! EMOTION WAVE NUJITSU!" Four pillars of lightning shot from his fingers and scratched along the ground towards Jidod. Jidod spun his blade as they struck. **skeeescrooop**! The screeching of the lightning soon faded as the energy of the attack was swallowed up by the sword.

"Fine!" the annoying weaving off finger signs started up again. "FUITON! HEAVEN'S WIND WALL NUJITSU!" He brought his hands together and then released. A spinning tornado of wind shot horizontally from the gap in his hands at Jidod.

At the same time, Jidod took action. Let's see if this trick works here! Jidod thought. He swung the bat'leth into the ground. "Kahless style! SOMETHING HAPPENS NUJITSU!" He channeled some of the energy stored in his body out into the ground. The ground shook and cracked in a targeted planetquake heading towards the ninja Q.

The wind wall and the earthquake passed by each other. The wind wall slammed into Jidod with the force of a truck. It knocked him and the blade off the ground and into the trees. The earthquake shook ninja Q off his feet and he stumbled and bounced off the ground and back into the trees.

Enabran's Battle

The teleportation ended and Enabran found himself on the edge of the white space with a weird red-headed human teen hugging him. He was about to elbow him but the blue robed-teen released him and jumped back.

"Was this your plan, to isolate us?" Enabran asked.

"Yes, it was. Quite brilliant, wouldn't ya say?" said the teen in an Irish accent. "We won't have to worry about joint techniques or shared analysis, don't ya know?"

Enabran readied himself to fight. "But you won't have any help either," he responded.

"Not to worry yourself, but it won't matter, don't ya know? Our butterfly friend is on his way to destroy your jamming device. Once that's done, you're done. I just have to keep you busy until then, wouldn't ya gree?"

Enabran smiled and took a step forward. "And your puny one godly self is enough to defeat me and my 5 gods?"

The robed Q boy took up a karate stance, left arm raised to block. "Your Pa Wraiths are hardly gods. More like the B squad of godlings. Search their souls after I send the lot of you to the afterlife, K?"

"Then... you'll just have to kill me. Because there's no way my 5 gods are going to let you live after making a statement like that."

"So I'll start then, huh?" The robed Q sprang forward, fist cocked back for a strike to the head. "YAA-" **booosshh**! Enabran stepped back once and when the robed Q passed over the spot he stepped on earlier, a wall of fire shot from the ground where he once had his feet. This searing wall of flame shot through the robed Q and into the sky he went.

The Q stopped his flaming ascent with a burst of flight power. His robes were burnt to a crisp and all that remained were his pants. So naturally, he had twelve-pack abs. "That was a dirty trick don't ya know?!" he yelled at the Cardassian.

"I am a Cardassian," Enabran replied. "We are known for those."

"I will teach you to tease the gods! YAAR!" Enraged, he flew down towards Enabran, fist held back and ready to strike.

Enabran waited patiently. Just like I practiced... **swrooop**! The enraged godling flew through Enabran and smashed a small hole in the ground. The dust from the crash soon cleared and Enabran saw him hovering over the hole. Shadow switch really works! **whamp**! **wham wham wham wham**! Enabran kicked the vulnerable confused teen in the gut, then launched a flurry of punches that struck all over the place. A hard elbow strike to the helmet stopped his attack and the teen slid to a stop along the cracked ground.

Enabran charged at the disrobed Q, energy crackling in his left palm. The Q dodged the first right punch by ducking to his left. Unfortunately, this is where he was vulnerable. **bakoom**! An energy blast struck the disrobed Q in the chest, away from where he was looking. The teen got blasted into the air again. He opened his eyes and Enabran was right there. **whack** **whack** **thwack**! They traded rapid punches and blocks as they flew through the air, with Enabran making more hits than the Q teen.

"You've proven yourself to be a worthy opponent, OK?" said the disrobed Q as he blocked two punches and held Enabran's left elbow and right knee. "But I'm going to need you to die now." His eyes began glowing red. Enabran's eyes widened when he realized a dangerous shot was coming for his head. **KRRSSAASSH**! The beam hit Enabran's forehead, then passed right through it. When the disrobed Q was able to see again (because you can't see when you're firing lasers from your eyes) Enabran was gone. "Ha! I got one!"

**ssllasssh**! Enabran appeared above him and dropped down, his energy sword from his arm cut straight through the godling like a hot knife through butter. Enabran stopped his fall and looked up. The godling's face looked shocked as half his body drifted away from the main part. Enabran smiled.

"You...got..me..." said the golding. His frown turned into a smile. "Almost." Strands of twine shot from the main body and connected the missing part, dragging the half back to the main body. Soon he was fully restored.

"I see I am not the only one with freaky powers," Enabran replied.

"I see that I have not been taking you seriously. That changes. Now." The disrobed Q put his arms by the sides of his body. **fuuwunnp**! His body swelled by a quarter and grew ten centimeters. His muscles went from toned to bodybuilder muscular. "AAGHH!" The Q teen shouted from the sudden swell. "Whew! I've increased my strength to the maximum, ya know?" His voice sounded far deeper and intimidating than before.

Enabran floated up to the same altitude as the enemy, with energy sword glowing off his arm. "Still not impressed," he replied.

The Q teen pointed a thumb at himself. "Then I must ask a favor," he said. "Hit me as hard as you can."

"Really?"

"Yes. I won't strike first."

"It shall be your funeral." blip! Enabran teleported in front of him and swung his foot as hard as he could at the godling's head. **THWHAMM**! The air itself shook from the blow. But the godling did not move at all. Feeling afraid but determined, Enabran swung the blade down at the same spot he cut through his shoulder. **clank**! The energy blade bounced harmlessly off him.

{What the?} the four-eyed Pa Wraith asked.

{This is not good,} said the shortest Pa Wraith.

{You think?} Enabran replied. A clearly shocked expression appeared on his face. {What should I do?}

"My turn." The Q replied. **THAWACKAMM**! The punch was so fast Enabran didn't have time to activate his shadow dodge technique. He saw the buff godling getting smaller in the distance. Then everything went black **CRAWHAM**! as he crashed through an entire small hill back-first at mach 2.

Isaiah's fight,

Isaiah, knocked senseless by the blow and blast, went back-first through the trees of the forest before bouncing along the ground and flipping to his feet. A bright glowing person approached him at high speed. He floated a bit and as the person approached to attack his head, spun in a back-flip followed by a kick. {Reverse Gravity pulse!} he ordered the computer. The thrust from his feet doubled the strength of his kick. **WROM**! Q Junior, wearing a red and black Starfleet command uniform with an upside-down badge, got knocked senseless as he went back into the sky. He opened his eyes right when a barrage of energy balls flew towards him. He started dodging deftly, twisting his whole body around the barrage. boom Boom **boom Boom**! The balls began exploding the closer they came to him. One caught him in the chest and exploded. "AAGH!" Q Junior groaned. More explosions buffeted him around in the sky. He quickly curled into a ball and made a shield around himself to recover. Soon, a cloud of smoke shrouded his presence.

The smoke cleared and Q Junior lowered the shield. He looked at the ground where the barrage was coming from. No sign of the invader. Where did he go? Q Junior thought. **THROCK**! A strong punch to the back of his head sent him tumbling down. He turned around and fired a massive beam of energy. Isaiah countered with a phaser blast of his own. The beams collided. **skrrrsss**! The beams of energy pushed against each other. {Computer! Boost power 60 percent!} The gems glowed fiercely as more antimatter reactions occurred, the power channeling out of Isaiah and into the beam. **rssshPTSSS! WHOOM**! The blast overtook the energy beam from Q Junior and rammed him hard. He screamed and moved out of the way. **KABTHOOM**! The impact shook the ground and obliterated a part of the forest near them.

Q Junior recovered from the hits and flew up to Isaiah's face, ready to challenge his rival once more. "You dare to come here and spoil our pristine environment with your sickness? After we allowed you to live?!" the godling asked.

Isaiah stared him down with hate in his eyes. "We're supposed to wait for you to decide when to kill us all? Color me ungrateful then!" He clenched his fists. "You've caused more than enough trouble in the Alpha quadrant. Jidod says killing you will make us heroes for millennia. I could use the PR boost, to be honest."

"You're not making it out of here alive! Today, your stupid jammer only jammed 95% of my power. I can still access more! Behold, the power of a god!" He squatted down tightly and muttered something, then stood up fast. **shatrhass**! His hair turned dark brown and grew twice as long.

"So that's your power? Making your hair grow longer?" Isaiah chided him.

"Silence, brat! Your god is talking to you in the only language your putrid kind understands. With its fists!"

{Target's power output is 95% of your own,} the computer alerted Isaiah.

This is not going to be as easy as before but I knew that going in. Isaiah took off, heading towards the enemy. Before Q Junior could block he fired **ppssss** his smokescreen in the enemy's face.

"What trickery is this?!" Q Junior yelled. "AARRGH!" **wwhoooshh**! A burst of power from his body blew the smoke away. He looked around in front of him and saw nothing.

Several kilometers away, Isaiah hid behind a tree. He never looks down, he thought as he aimed his hands at the enemy. {Computer, protomatter ball! Five megaton explosion!}

**sshskow**! The explosive ball of energy took off for the target. He saw Q Junior turn around as the ball approached and laughed. Then everything turned white. Isaiah raised his shields and ducked as the explosive wave washed over him and the surrounding forest.

Around ten minutes later, Isaiah lowered the shield and stood up. A cloud of hot dust rose as he stood up. He looked around. There were no more trees standing around, except at the very edge of the horizon. Some knocked over and petrified trees were in a pile at the end of the explosion's radius.

That should have done it, Isaiah thought. He looked around. {Computer; any sign of the punk?}

His motion sensor clicked on. A red dot appeared. {Punk is right behind you,} the computer replied. His eyes grew large. He felt a tap on his left shoulder and spun around. There was the Q Junior, hovering right behind him.

"I don't know whether to be impressed or furious," said Q Junior. He didn't have a scratch on him from the blast. "Clearly you threw your best shot at me, thinking nothing would survive a nuclear blast in the back. So let me introduce you to an old Earth phrase. When you come at the king, you best not miss!" **WHAMP**! A solid right hook from Q Junior sent the teen hero flying off his feet.

"UNGGH" I felt that through my shields! Isaiah grumbled. He turned to look and saw Q Junior coming. He raised his arms just in time to block. **WHAMP**! Another solid strike kept him flying out of control. **Whamp**! He got struck again. Stunned, he flew out of control. **WHAP**! His helmet went right into Q Junior's palm, the rest of his body swinging back from the momentum, then **WHOOOSH** **thrwackwam**! He got chokeslammed into the white ground.

The Q kid floated over the shocked human as he crawled out of the crater made by his plummeting body. "The mighty heroes of the Federation can't win a fair fight. All they can do is win against weaksauce opponents like the Romulans and the cave creatures. What a shame."

Isaiah got to his feet as the Q kid continued to berate him. "You thought yourself worthy of challenging the gods. You thought you could rage against the heavens! Now suffer for your sins as the heavens rage back!"

"Shut... up!" **KRRRSSS**! The Q kid got blasted off his feet by two mighty ion blasts from Isaiah's hands.

Genji's battle,

Genji kept her eye on the screens showing the life signs of her team. Spikes in pain input, heart rate, and oxygen levels made her worry. Isaiah's sensor reading disappeared. The ground shook. "What was that?" she asked Jingwei.

"I am detecting alpha radiation," said Jingwei's AI, "coming from a nuclear detonation."

"Isaiah's not holding back today."

A popup appeared on her main window. It had a zoomed-in view of the area at 12 O'Clock high. The object was tiny and a bit blurry. After enhancement, it appeared to be a giant butterfly.

"Power readings match those of enemy Q," Jingwei reported. "ETA 2 minutes."

"Looks like the fun is coming to me," said Genji. She removed her hands from the control orbs and started "typing" in the air. Soon, Jingwei stepped in front of the jamming device and placed a small shield generator next to the jammer. The shield's harmonic setting kept it from interfering with the energy jammer (because that would negate it otherwise). "Additional programming complete," said Jingwei.

Genji put her hands on the control orbs by her armrests. "Thank you, Mr. Peterson, for all those programming lessons."

Soon after, the butterfly landed. It glowed and transformed into a leather-clad teenage boy who looked a lot like a Korean teen with dark red hair and a smooth chin. Is that V from BTS? Genji thought. Do the Q have a love of the classics?

The stylish Q teen pointed at Jingwei. "How dare you defile our sacred realm!" stylish Q yelled at her. "Leave here at once and maybe we will go easy on you!"

"Not without killing you all!" Genji replied through the loudspeaker.

"Hey, that's not fair!" He waved his arm to the right. "What did we ever do to you anyway?"

"Your friend harassed a Federation starship and picked a fight with my friend!"

"That's water under the bridge!"

"Your kind, specifically your friend's dad, has caused all manner of calamities to the Alpha Quadrant and maybe the entire galaxy!"

"Oh yeah...those..." He looked up and away from the robot in realization.

"Yeah, that's why you and your kind have got to go." Jingwei pointed at the teen. "Tell you what: If you tell me where your people are hiding, I'll let you fly home. You can enjoy your last moments and die peacefully. Deal?"

"Hey! You're not giving me a lot of options here, baby!"

"Number one, don't call me baby. Number two, if you don't let me kill them, my friends will. And they're not going to do it peacefully. So it's your call, kid. Die peacefully, or painfully."

"Number one, don't call me a kid. Number two, no deal. Number three, I'm going to break you and your oversized toy!"

Genji laughed, then said. "You are joking, right? What're ya gonna do, sing me to death?" She made Jingwei hold its hands behind its head and then wiggle its hips in a sexy (for a robot) manner. "Yee...hee...hee!"

He frowned. "This is the part where I hurt you now." **VVRRMMMM**! The teen glowed and transformed again, this time into a towering, almost skyscraping creature. The creature was covered in a kaleidoscope pattern of light to dark gray scales, hands the size of an Earth SUV with claws the size of a human, spikes extending from the back about 2 and a half meters in length from the base of the neck down to the middle of the back. The creature had spikes on its elbows, a tail about 20 meters long with white spikes along the tip with the tip itself having an angled spike and a large spike in the middle. And of course, its kneecaps had spikes.

"How you like me now?" the Q creature said in a deep scratchy voice. **THWAM**! "URGH!" Jingwei activated its impulse drive, clotheslining the creature off its feet with a strike from its arm. Jingwei grabbed the tail of the spinning creature as it spun ass over face in the air. She threw the creature down the white ground, away from the jammer.

You were clever enough to lower your mass to avoid the square root weight problem, Genji thought, but this makes you weaker than me! She flew towards the Q creature with the knowledge that she might be able to beat this one without the help of her teammates.

{Foolish human!} The Q teen spoke in her mind in an angry tone. {What do you know of the creators of your Mobile War Armor?}

"Get out of my head!" Genji shouted.

{But there's so much empty space!} the teen ragged her. {I could hire a decorator and-}

"Jingwei, block his transmission!" Genji shouted as she returned her focus on the fight.

"Unable to comply," said Jingwei.

{DBZ ending music}

The battle has been joined and the heroes face their toughest opponents ever. Every fight they've fought this season has been for this moment. But the Q have raw power and rage. Will talent and experience win the day? Or have the heroes bitten off more than they can chew? Tune in next week on Dragon Ball StarTrek Z Colony!


	25. The Q War Part 3

Jidod's fight,

Part 2,

Clang! Clang! Clank! Jidod and ninja Q's swords clashed again and again as they ran around each other on the forest floor. Wsshtuck! Ninja Q's massive Ginsu knife looking sword missed Jidod's head as he dodged and got stuck in a tree. Jidod twisted around and swung from the top. The ninja Q looked scared. CLANK! The bat'leth got blocked again by the massive Ginsu sword, which he had yanked out of the tree. At a height advantage, Jidod began pressing down through the block, bringing the dangerous middle tip closer and closer to its victim. The ninja Q struggled against the pressure. He gritted his teeth. So did Jidod. Then he pushed his right arm against the flat end of the blade.

Jidod felt his strength starting to fade. His bat'leth got pushed back until both weapons were straight up. _This is bad..._he realized. _I need more power to match his strength._

Ninja Q realized his weakness as well. He began pushing even harder on the blade, bringing his closer to Jidod's throat. He was about to act when Jidod kicked him in the stomach and skipped back several times as he recovered.

"I'm over here!" Jidod shouted from twenty meters away. "Try one of your stupid powers on me!"

"You asked for it!' Ninja Q shoved the sword into the ground. He weaved those annoying hand signs again, stopping on one with fingers interlaced and thumb tips touching. "RAI-TON! DANCING THUNDERBOLT NUJITSU!" CRAACK! The lightning flew off his hands and danced all over the battlefield in a pretty yet ridiculously slow fashion (real lightning is almost instant). Jidod smiled and raised his weapon. ssschroop! The lightning got pulled into his sword.

"I assume they didn't teach you about grounding in Q science class," said Jidod, with a laugh.

"Smug b****. Try this on for size! KA-TON! FIRE RING NUJITSU!" A ring of fire flew from his mouth, growing larger as it got closer to Jidod. fwwooosh! Jidod soon found himself surrounded by a ring of fire. Jidod smiled, walked over to the ring of fire and smoke and stuck his bat'leth into it. scrroopp! The ring of fire faded away, its power absorbed.

"Got any more tricks?" Jidod asked.

It finally hit the hardheaded Q on the nose. "Your stupid bat'leth. It can absorb energy," he said in realization. "You've been using my own power to augment your strength."

"If my friends were here," Jidod alluded, "I would have placed bets with them on how long it would've taken for you to figure it out. You are clearly not the brightest star in the sky."

The ninja Q growled briefly, then smiled. "Clearly I have been underestimating you. No more. You want to play in the arena with the gods, you best be ready to get hit." He pointed his Ginsu knife of a sword forward at Jidod. "Do you know where and when this sword comes from?"

"I signed up to fight gods, not take history lectures from them."

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that it also has abilities."

"I was wondering why it got so big after I chased you into the trees."

"I'm glad you're attentive. Pay attention to this next bit. I will wreck you in three moves." The straps of the sword wrapped themselves around his right arm. "BAN!KAIII!" SHABOOOSH! A bright light came from the sword and enveloped his body. Jidod shielded himself from the light. Soon, it faded. Standing before him was the ninja Q, but now he was wearing a tight, thin long black trenchcoat with white stripes connecting the two sides. His headband was gone, his face filled with an expression of righteous fury that sent shivers down Jidod's spine. The sword was now a bit shorter, all black and curved like a katana. It had a thin white guard around the hilt that resembled a small open cabbage made of dark metal. "Tensa Zangetsu." He took the sword in both hands. "You can't run, you can't hide, all you can do is die. This is...the JUSTICE OF THE GODS!" His knees bent slightly. "Earlier, I said I'd beat you in three moves. But really, I'm just going to hit you with the same move three times."

Jidod raised his bat'leth. _This is bad, _he thought. _Should I fend off his first attack or portal out for a break?_

The air began to swirl upwards around the ninja Q. "This move comes from human history. It requires god-like speed to pull off. This sword provides its user with that kind of speed."

"Ha! You're so slow, I could've eaten lunch by now," Jidod chided him.

The ninja Q smiled again. "I'm going to enjoy your death. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu..."

Jidod began moving the tip of his sword by his foot. _Time to run!_

"KUZU RYU SENNNN! TIMES THREEEE!"

It was over in five seconds. One second for ninja Q to spring forward, one second for him to stab Jidod's body in the following order: left shoulder/elbow/ and hand, right hand/elbow/and shoulder, forehead/chest and crotch. One second to go past him, turn around and strike Jidod's body in the following order: left shoulder/back of elbow/wrist, right shoulder/back of elbow/wrist, tailbone/spine/back of the neck. One second to spin to the side and strike in the following order: Left hip/left kneecap/left foot. One second to spin again and strike in the following order: right hip/right kneecap/right foot. With the attack finished, he spun and skidded to the side. He took several short breaths while leaning down from exhaustion.

Jidod stood still like a statue. It was like his body just...stopped. The bat'leth of Kahless fell out of his hands. _Oh...shi-_. BOOSSH! It was like watching a watermelon explode as the suit literally fell to pieces as the blood in his body sprayed out at high pressure. He, or rather, what was left of him, flopped to the ground dramatically. The first time death ever entered the continuum, and it was of the 'hero' Jidod.

The ninja Q swung his sword, tossing the blood off of it. He put the sword on his back and drew a square in the air. A computer window appeared. He pressed some spots on it and a video feed of the town square appeared. The Q leader was in the center of the feed. "I have struck down the Klingon," he said without much feeling.

"Bring him here immediately," said the Q leader. "We may need him alive."

"What? This Klingon punk was much harder to kill that we thought!"

"Do not argue with me! We may need him as a hostage or bargaining chip. Now hurry!" The window closed on the angry ninja Q.

Ninja Q walked over to the fallen Klingon. "Life is not done with you yet." He saw the puddle of blood and gore forming around the Klingon. "Hope you didn't need that third kidney, because I ain't picking it up!"

Enabran's fight,

Part 2

The ground shook once. It shook twice. KAMWHAM! It exploded into a cloud of ash and fire as Enabran rose from below. From the stable ground nearby, disrobed Q watched as Enabran went into the sky.

"I'm glad you got out of the ground," said disrobed Q as he looked up at his opponent. "It saved me the trouble of digging you out."

Enabran breathed heavily inside his suit. The damage to it and him was extensive, which he learned when he woke up forty meters underground. "You got me good last time!" He yelled through the suit's loudspeaker on maximum. "I do not plan on giving you another chance!" whup! He brought his wrists together and aimed his open palms down at the enemy. {Pa Wraiths! It's time! We've got to end this godling forbort now!} he said with a mix of fear and anger in his internal voice.

{You're badly hurt,} said the female Pa Wraith. {Your body will give out if you do it.}

{Don't care! It's now or never! Everyone, help me!}

The five Pa Wraiths put their hands on the orb.

(music suggestion: Vegeta final flash theme)

The disrobed muscular Q looked up as an ominous glow appeared in Enabran's hands. Soon, electrical arcs formed by ionization of the air molecules around Enabran's hands danced down and impacted harmlessly against him. "Ohh ho ho!" he taunted. "I barely felt that! Are you still trying to hit me as hard as you can?!"

_That's right you arrogant forbort,_ Enabran swore as he channeled more of the Pa Wraith's power into his attack. Red energy pulsed across his body and down his arms. His muscles bulged and shrank as power built up and channeled out of them. _Stand right there and don't move!_ "You like challenges you obnoxious wuss?! Then take this! Feel the power of Cardassia!"

{Cardassia?} The four eyed Pa Wraith asked.

"And the power of the great and mighty Pa Wraiths!"

{Thank you since we're doing ALL the work here!}

"Still not impressed yet!" disrobed Q shouted back.

"GALAXY GUN! FFFUULLLLL BLLLLAAAASSSTTT!" BAKOOOSSH!

The disrobed muscular Q smirked as the massive comet-shaped glowing bright ball of energy swirled and headed towards him. He didn't think much of the concentrated gamma-ray burst. _I wonder if he says that when he's about to- _"OH SHI*********!" KAWHAMMMMMBOOOOM!

Enabran hovered down as the smoke began to clear. That was when he saw the effect his attack had on the villainous Q and the surrounding area. A hole a quarter kilometer in diameter was in the ground. Instead of revealing more ground, it revealed the blackness of space. He had punched a hole through the crust of whatever plane they were on and into interdimensional space. Energy danced around the hole in the form of white sparks of electricity. When the dust had cleared more, that was when he saw it. The head of the Q villain, floating in the air above the hole. The rest of his body was gone.

"Ugrh...Urgh!...urng!" the now-bodyless Q croaked.

Enabran landed on the white ground by the hole in the continuum. "Ha. Ha. Ha." He fell to his knees, exhausted by the effort of shaping and controlling the Galaxy Gun. "Now... hurry up... and die."

The bodyless Q's face floated helplessly while Enabran rested. Then, scrupppp! A bunch of brown gloop extended from his neck and formed into a body. Soon, he had his whole body back. It then swelled to the massive muscular shape he had before, ripped pants included. "AHHR!" the disrobed Q shouted. "That...hurts..."

Enabran stood up. "Then I shall do it again."

The disrobed hovering Q ignored him and looked at the hole. He waved his left hand at it. The hole began to close. "To think an enemy like you could punch a hole through our sacred space..." he muttered. He looked at Enabran and landed on the repaired portion of the hole. He started walking towards Enabran. "When I get my full powers back... I am going to enjoy breaking you down atomically... and pasting your mind into a chicken processor so I can watch you die a thousand times a day."

Enabran swallowed from fear. He raised his fists to prepare to fight. {What should we do, gods in my head?} he asked.

{He's channeling the power of the plane to keep himself alive,} the tallest Pa Wraith said.

{You will have to obliterate him to stop him,} said the shortest Pa Wraith.

{We just tried that. What's next?} Enabran asked.

{Then we have no choice,} said the female Pa Wraith. {You will have to trust us one hundred percent.}

Enabran quickly considered his options. This was when he realized he only had the one. {What do you need me to do?}

{Stay alive without powers for half a minute.}

{That I can do.} He looked at the angry Q approaching him. "Do you really think you will have the chance to regain your old powers?"

"Your friends are as pathetic as you are," the angry disrobed Q said. "They, like you, have bitten off more than they can do."

"Really, now? That's not what my radio is telling me. "

"Because we are real gods, not pretendlings like you. My friends are wrecking yours as I speak."

"Are you certain? Can you give me a play by play?"

The disrobed Q now towered above the Cardassian. "You're trying to stall for time, ain't you?"

"No. Just trying to get an update."

"I am not your news service. I am your executioner. Now, are you going to stand still or do you want to embarrass yourself with more pathetic attempts at resistance?"

"I refuse to let you win without a fair fight. Cardassian honor demands it."

"You have been anything but fair today. That's it." He drew his fist. "You represent the greatest threat to the galaxy since the Iconians, don'tcha know?"

"I am glad to be put in such high regard," Enabran replied as he took two steps back. _Ten more seconds!_

"You shouldn't be. The Iconians were a pain in the butt, too. They wanted to colonize every single star system, claim every star, and take over the entire galaxy. Your Federation and Cardassian Union are no different. I know this breaks your heart but -"

PA TSSH! The energy blade extended from Enabran's left arm. "Then let's end it. Righteousness is utter nonsense anyway."

"That's the spirit! Enough talk! You are not strong enough to survive. The weak should perish."

"Speak for yourself!" He raised his arm level and grabbed the blade with his right hand. Then he pulled. A red stick emerged from his arm and then formed a curved blade at the top, making a scythe. A black tear in space above his back formed and out poured the Pa Wraiths. Wham! The tallest and shortest Pa Wraiths struck first, clothes-lining the disrobed Q in the head and chest, knocking him off his feet. Wham! The four-eyed Pa Wraith slid underneath him and kicked him upward. Waiting for him to rise were the bald and female Pa Wraiths. WHAM! Doing a backspin, they hit the stunned Q in the head, chest, and both legs at the same time, sending him plummeting back to the ground.

Enabran raised the scythe. Shatakk! The energy scythe glowed ominously red. SCA-RAAK! Enabran swung it the wrong way, striking the stunned Q in the chest with the dull but still painful side of the blade. The stunned Q flew off into the distance at Mach 3. ba-WHAM! An explosion in the distance caught his attention. kapoWWW! So did the sound of the stunned Q smashing through a different hill.

The five Pa Wraiths flew back into Enabran's body. "Excellent work," said Enabran. "I'm pretty sure he's dead now."

{It would've been guaranteed if you had struck him with the sharp end,}" said the bald Pa Wraith.

Ksst! The radio in his suit came to life. "This is the leader of the Q people," said a female voice. "We have your Klingon friend. Surrender now and he will not be harmed! We are at the village 200 kilometers ahead of your jammer."

"Where does this bone go?" asked Q's wife in the background.

"More than we already have harmed him," the leader explained. "You had better hurry."

"Drazit," Enabran swore. "I guess I have to get the useless lug."

{What for?} asked the tallest Pa Wraith. {Isn't he dead?}

{Perhaps but we could use a hostage. Jidod is our ride home, after all.}

Isaiah's fight,

Part 2

"I see your fighting skills haven't -ulf!" Q Junior groaned after missing a block and getting punched in the face. He and Isaiah flew along the white plain, just a few feet over the ground, punching and kicking each other.

"What was that?" Isaiah asked as he blocked Q Junior's punches, then continued with his own combo of kicks and uppercuts. "Having trouble hearing you over the sound of your ass getting kicked!"

_He's right,_ Q Junior realized. _I'm starting to weaken again and he hasn't gotten tired. _"Then, let's change things up some more!" He kicked Isaiah hard in the stomach and flew back as Isaiah held his stomach. He landed nearby as Isaiah recovered.

(Music suggestion: SSJ3 powerup theme)

"I think it's time I start kicking your ass now." He knelt down and yelled "AAAAAAAAHHHH!" then he stood up. He glowed light yellow as he swung his arms back. Isaiah could tell he was getting stronger, most by the fact his hair was getting longer as well. When Q Junior stopped yelling, he could tell the Q's hair went down to his hips.

"This again?" Isaiah grumbled.

"Of course. Now I am substantially stronger than you! What do you plan to do about that?"

"Let's test that theory!" He pointed both hands at the enemy and fired two explosive balls. bing bing! The Q teen swatted them away. KABBOOOM! They exploded in the distance after hitting the ground.

He cupped his hands together and aimed them at Isaiah. "You and your friends will be blown to dust!"

_Forbort! I have to stop this! _He aimed his palms at his new rival in power. "You think you know power, you fake god? I'll show you power!"

"FIRE!" they both shouted. Massive beams of energy launched from their hands. KRRSS! Their powerful beams hit and grinded against each other like beams of water slamming into each other. A few moments of this, the beams stayed at the same distance. But then, Q Junior's beams started pushing Isaiah's back.

Isaiah felt the pressure of the beams pushing against his palms. _GGGGKK! This punk's overpowering me! _{Computer, output at 100%!}

{Increasing output to max allowable,} said the computer. The beam increased in size and the pushback ceased.

"HA! I have even more power!"

"No..."

"GOD... POWER!"

"No no no nooo!"

"TIMES... TWOOO!"

"No no no no NOOOOOOO!" the beam from Q Junior completely overtook Isaiah's beam and washed over him as if he were a crab at the edge of a beach when a wave came in. The beam knocked him off his feet but he managed to fly a bit and get pushed out of it as the worst flew past.

Isaiah woke up to the sound of suit damage alarms going off. He took a deep breath and crawled. He got to his knees when he heard the sound of feet landing near him. Then he saw the polished black shoes of a Starfleet officer.

"This is the perfect position for you and all mortals," said Q Junior. "On your knees, eyes to the ground, humbled in the presence of greatness." whamp! A kick to the face sent Isaiah upward, throck! a punch to the crotch sent him flying backward. He stumbled and clutched his crotch as Q Junior laughed at him. "I thought you would be a challenge, what with your annoying super-science weapons and battle experience. But, you know what? You disappointed me. You were always weaker than we gods. Heck, you're weaker than the damn robot! But, what can I say? You're only human." Q Junior said the last sentence with a sneering tone to further the insult.

"You...you know what?" Isaiah said as he clutched his crotch. "I...am human, and I made it this far!"

"Thanks to the annoying Klingon, who is dead now, by the way."

Isaiah's face flushed with blood. He stood up and spoke with greater conviction. His held his palms open to the sides. "F*** magic swords!" He took a strong step towards his annoying smug opponent. "F*** power levels!" He took another step and raised his right palm about halfway, the palm pointing back. "And F***... Qs!" With a burst of speed from the back, the wounded human shot towards his opponent. Q Junior did not sense anything special coming from him. whap! Isaiah softly hit him in the chest with the right palm and stumbled past the very strong, hair down to his ankles, Q Junior.

Q Junior smiled. "Your foul language hurt me more than that pathetic strike."

Isaiah fell to his knees and rolled over. He smiled. "Try this on for size."

Q Junior aimed his fingers at him, ready to blast him to pieces and be done with this day. Then his chest started glowing at the spot Isaiah had struck him. "What the? This is..."

"Omega...strike..."

KATTTSSHHH! A solid subspace energy cone appeared around the confused Q. SCRAKWHAM! The Omega Particle, the most powerfully unstable molecule in the known universe, drifted into continuum space from subspace and detonated inside the shield trap with the force of a stellar nova. SCRAKWHAM! again SCRAKWHAM! and again. The shield cone vanished and Q Junior's smoldering body, hair completely singed off, flopped to the ground.

"Ha...ha...How you like my human power now, you...forbort frak?" Isaiah said to the fallen Q Junior's body, even though he wasn't looking at him and couldn't turn his head.

Ksst! The radio in his suit came to life. "This is the leader of the Q people," said a female voice. Isaiah heard the same radio call as Enabran had heard. _Well, this is a problem..._ he also looked at his oxygen levels and saw how low they were. _Guess I still have time to finish my mission._

Genji's Battle

Part 2,

WABOOMM! Jingwei's arm cannons struck the giant creature in all along its right arm. WRAUNG! The creature's claw slashed against Jingwei's armor as it moved to dodge. Inside, Genji shook from the impact. She gritted her teeth and made the robot fly back to avoid another swipe. She fired the arms cannons again as she put distance between her and the creature. But the energy balls had no visible effect on it, though it did have to stop attacking to block them.

_Where is his weak spot?!"_

{Aren't you interested in learning why the T'Kon built these things?} asked the Q creature. {Or are you afraid of the answer?}

"You're just trying to distract me," Genji shouted.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Jingwei.

"Damn it! He's trying to distract me! Jam telepathic transmissions!"

"Unable to comply. Require more data."

"ARRGH!" Genji pulled the trigger and a swarm of missiles flew at the target. boom boom boom! They exploded against the creature's skin.

Genji looked on in horror as the missiles did no damage. "What?" She loudly asked. "These missiles brought down birds of prey!" She started looking at the enemy analysis screen to her left. The data showed that the creature had a force field just over his skin. But before she could act on this info, the creature opened its mouth. PSS PSS PPSS! TRACKPAMMM! The creature shot three short energy balls at the robot, one hitting it in the chest and exploding with enough force to knock it backward and downward. The tail of the creature swung forward. EEEEE SKRREEESSS! A plasma beam shot from its tail and began cutting into her robot's armor. Jingwei curled forward slightly and turned on its main deflector shield. The beam slammed against its shield.

"This isn't working! I need a better solution!" Genji said in frustration.

"My analysis shows its own energy barrier is weak when firing," said Jingwei.

"Perfect! Photon torpedo barrage!"

The torpedo hatch by the base of the neck opened up and four torpedoes flew out. Boom boom boom boom! Their explosions knocked the creature on its back and ceased its plasma beam. "It can't handle Federation weaponry!" Genji realized. She pressed a button and went through the weapons menu. As the creature stood up, Jingwei's phaser cannon had materialized and was now in the robot's hand. "Dodge this," Genji said dryly. SCKKKAOW! The phaser blast punched a hole clean through the scaly creature's neck and spun it around. It tumbled as it hit the ground.

The Q creature glowed ominously again and quickly transformed itself into a large butterfly. It took off just as Genji fired again, leaving a scorch mark on the white plain. _Running to the sky was a big mistake. Jingwei shines in air combat, _Genji thought.

{Care to put a wager on that?} The Q creature asked.

"Ugh! Stupid telepathy!" Genji groaned. "Let's get him, Jingwei!"

A cloud of dust rose from the ground as Jingwei took off with a burst of speed.

The giant Q butterfly spun around when it sensed Jingwei approaching. While flying backward, it pushed its wings towards the front. BOTAASH! A massive energy ball flew out of the butterfly's wings. Jingwei spun to the right, narrowly dodging the projectile. The Q butterfly began flying in a zig-zag formation before spinning around and firing back. Jingwei dodged and fired the phaser cannon, again and again, barely scraping the massive yet nimble enemy.

"Let's see you try this on for size!" Genji said as she fired a barrage specially programmed photon torpedoes when she saw the words Target Locked. The four torpedoes took off at Mach 5 and quickly headed for the zigzagging creature. The creature performed spins and dives at very high G to dodge the torpedoes.

{HA!} The Q creature taunted her. {You couldn't hit a barn in Nebras- OH SHI**!} Unexpectedly to the Q butterfly creature, the torpedoes that missed earlier had returned. The creature dodged them again but now the torpedoes were circling. And photon torpedoes have a lot of fuel. The Q butterfly successfully dodged the four swirling torpedoes but Genji was not content with just those four. The Q creature looked back in her direction and saw eight more photon torpedoes coming its way. It dove and rolled again then climbed really fast, did a barrel roll to avoid another set of torpedoes, and then banked to avoid yet another.

{Is that your best strategy, human noob?!} The Q creature taunted her as it dodged another torpedo flying from below.

"Look above you," Genji replied.

{What the?!} KAPOW! A photon torpedo slammed into the creature's back from above and exploded, sending it spinning end over end kapow! into another circling torpedo powpowpowow! and then the rest of the torpedoes hit the beleaguered Q creature. {AAAGRH! Humans and your damn torpedo spam!} Stunned and smoldering, it went higher into the sky.

Genji fired again, this time using the gauss rifle rounds. THRACK! A chunk of the wounded creature's top right wing went flying off. The Q creature stalled and started falling. Genji drew the robot's sword and dove after the falling creature. She got closer, closer, tasting victory in her mouth. When the blade came within a foot of striking the creature, that was when the trap was sprung.

SKKKRSTASSSH! A energy bubble extended from the giant Q butterfly and surrounded Jingwei. Electrical conduits and breakers overloaded. Sparks flew all around the cockpit. "EEEEK!" Genji screamed as the electrical feedback went up the neural connector cable and into her brain. "DGHDIHGELHG!" the Jingwei AI screamed as it struggled to maintain coherence.

{Ahahaha! That attack was pretty clever... but I am YOUR GOD! Watch me smite your candy ass!}

Genji continued to scream as they fell back to the white ground. The field vanished when the Q butterfly flapped its wings to slow its descent. Jingwei quickly recovered and activated its crash landing prevention system. whAMMM! Jingwei slammed into the ground, back first. The phaser gauss cannon shattered into three pieces.

"Genji Quan. Genji Quan." The darkness flowed away from her eyes as Jingwei kept saying her name.

"I'm still alive?" asked Genji.

"Not if you don't think of a plan," Jingwei responded. The cameras came back online, and it showed the butterfly creature transforming back into the gigantic reptilian creature.

"Weapons?" Genji asked.

"Phaser cannon destroyed. Torpedo launcher critically damaged. Missile phase system offline. Arm cannons severely damaged. Arm blades are still available."

Genji shook her head. "I can't let my team down now! We have to protect the jammer!"

The Q creature had fully returned to giant reptile form. Genji looked at the jammer. It was just behind Jingwei by two hundred meters. And fifty meters in front of the Q creature. Jingwei quickly did the math and came up with a suggestion. "May I suggest tactical retreat with the jammer? The warp and star drives are still functional."

Genji quickly did the math, looked at the screen and saw the creature aiming its mouth at her. _He's right in the wrong way! _"No. We become the weapon. Jingwei! Let's Goooo!" She shoved the throttle forward, brought the damaged arms up and caught the creature in the throat and right arm. SLAAMM! Jingwei squeezed the creature's throat and used its leg pylons to pin the creature down. She quickly accessed the control menus. THUNK! The warp nacelles popped open from Jingwei's legs. "Jingwei! Activate the warp drive! Destination zero! Reverse warp field around me!

"Activating warp drive," Jingwei said.

{NOO!} screamed the Q in her head as the warp field slammed on. THAWHAM! The creature's tail slammed into Jingwei's back and nacelles to knock her off or damage the bubble. But Jingwei and the pilot would not be deterred.

"GRIND!"

nnelllllllsss! The warp field rotated rapidly around Jingwei like a sawblade, the edges of the field only a few meters ahead of the robot. The creature screamed hideously as its back and tail were quickly shredded away. Still, she persisted. wwiikkk. The creature glowed again and shrunk from her grip, turning back into the Asian teen she had seen before. She shut off the warp drive and let the teen fall to the crater in the ground.

"Finally," she said as the robot kneeled on the spot. _Man, I could use a break. _She looked at her damaged screens. Only the cameras and the damage status screens were still functional. "Can you bring up the status on the rest of the team?" A mental display of their armor's data feed appeared in her mind. Immediately, she noticed the lack of life signs coming from Jidod's armor. _No...Jidod. _She wiped a tear from her eyes. She noticed the heavy damage the others were taking. _I'm coming, guys! _She picked up the pieces of her broken weapon and sent it back to subspace storage. "Jingwei! Plot a-"

A radio transmission interrupted her order. "This is the leader of the Q people," said a female voice. "We have your Klingon friend. Surrender now and he will not be harmed! We are at the village 200 kilometers ahead of your jammer."

She heard the rest of the message. _They've got Jidod..._ She looked down at the fallen Q and ordered Jingwei to pick him up. "Jingwei to all heroes," she radioed to her team."Put a pause on the killing plan if you can. We need a hostage."


	26. The Q War Finale

The Q Villa,

moments earlier.

A splash of cold water woke Jidod up. He quickly opened his eyes and looked around. He saw humans and a plant. He tried to move his arms and legs to no success. Soon he realized he was tied up, and surrounded by oddly dressed humans. "Am I dead?"

slap! The ninja Q slapped him in the face from the left side, his helmet no longer there to block the blow. "Looks like our revival tech still works," he told the other Q.

"So, this is not Stovokor?" He looked around the area some more. "Good. I want one more shot at killing you."

"There will be no more killing this day," said a woman standing behind the crowd. The crowd parted to show him who was talking. He saw a tall woman with brown skin wearing a dark cloak. "You will be our bargaining chip."

"And who might you be?" he asked the woman.

"I am the prime Q. Their leader, in a sense."

"Because no one wanted the job..." muttered the older Q wearing the Starfleet leader uniform.

"And I wonder WHY that is!" she sharply replied and gave him a stare that breaks men's souls. The butt-whipped Q raised his hands and backed off. She turned her attention back to the captive. "What is your name? I told you mine."

"Jidod of the house of Mogh. Is this all of your kind?"

"There are a few who were not in the continuum, but fundamentally this is the vast majority of our people."

Jidod looked around and saw how uninspiring the place was. He laughed.

"What is so funny?"

"All of your great power and this is how you live? Like old Earth humans? No wonder you're always poking around in our universe. You have nothing left to live for!" He struggled against his bonds.

Meanwhile, some adults were playing with the bat'leth of Kahless.

"Wow!" One of the Q, this one a man wearing a woman's ballerina outfit, exclaimed. "How do they fight so well with this unwieldy thing?"

"Offensively, it's awful," said the woman holding it, while wearing a Las Vegas stripper outfit. She turned it left and up while holding it with both hands. "I mean, you can stab and twist, but it's not great for maneuvering. It seems more defensive in nature."

"How dare you mock the bat'leth of Kahless?!" Jidod shouted, ignoring the Q leader.

"But it's so funny!" said the stripper Q. She started pumping the blade forward and backward in a fake stabbing motion. "And primitive too!"

"I'll show you who's primitive! Untie me!"

slap! Another strong hit across Jidod's face came from the hand of the ninja Q. "That'll be enough out of you."

"No, wait," said the ballerina Q. "House of Morg Jidod, do you think this weapon's powers come from Kahless?"

"No...What are you getting at?" Jidod asked.

"This weapon has been charged with Iconian dark energy. For whatever reason, they wanted you to have this."

"They probably want you to do something bad with it," said the leader.

"If it's the Iconians, it's always something bad," said butt-whipped Q. He walked in front of the tied up Klingon. "So maybe you should show us some respect."

"And why should I do that?" Jidod asked.

"Because we are the cosmic good guys. We keep the abyssal terrors behind the Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy!" Jidod raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Oh, the educational system in the galaxy these days!" he whined as he threw up in hands in confused dramatic acting.

Jidod scoffed and said "It won't matter. If we're good enough to slaughter you, we should be good enough to handle those terrors. Bring 'em on!"

"Typical Klingon," said Q's wife. "Thinks he can fight everything!"

"Why not try? Are you too weak for these terrors you speak of?"

"You speak too highly of yourself," said the ninja Q. "We can certainly deal with you in this weakened state. Why have any pride whatsoever? I bet my friends are collecting the bodies of your dead right now. Just like I did with you."

Jidod was about to say something when he heard something in his ear. "Jidod, hang tight!" said Genji. "We are coming your way! We have hostages of our own!"

"Yeah! Don't let them turn you into a prison B****!" said Isaiah.

"Hey! Cut it out!"

"I know they're probably all up in his ass right-"

"You know he can hear you, right!"

Jidod started laughing. "He's gone crazy!" said Q's wife. She looked at ninja Q. "Good job. You captured the craziest one!"

"They are coming this way," said Mad Max Q as he looked at the holographic screen. "All of them."

"I see they've come to surrender. Excellent. We'll double-cross them and be on our way," said butt-whipped Q.

"Oh I can't wait to see the look on your faces..." said Jidod.

"There will be no double-crossing," said the leader.

Enabran landed first in the grassy part of the park in front of the picnic tables. He dropped the disrobed, heavily gashed Q he was carrying. Isaiah landed next to him and dropped Q Junior's well-burnt body. The Q walked towards their wounded comrades. Some gasped at the condition they were in. Then the large shadow flew overhead and they looked up as Jingwei flew in, spun around and landed behind her team. She set the wounded and deeply fried Q softly down on the grass.

"Release our friend...now," said Genji through Jingwei's speaker.

"Turn me around!" said Jidod. "I demand to see the fear on your faces!"

"My son!" Q's wife said when she saw Q Junior face down in the grass and not breathing. She approached but stopped when Enabran pointed his finger at her.

"Sorry. I must insist our headstrong colleague be returned first."

The leader stepped forward. She scanned the dead Q in front of her. "The most dangerous particle in creation and you punch people with it..." she said and shook her head like a disappointed human. "This was supposed to be your surrender. You are not in a position to make demands, even if you were kind enough to bring us our dead."

"I disagree. I knew Jidod died since I could track his life signs," said Genji. Jingwei pointed at him. "You brought him back to life. Surely you can do the same for your people. Isaiah?"

Isaiah aimed his palm at the fallen Q. "Or we can incinerate them right now. Personally, I think he'd make a good welcome mat for my house."

"No! Stop!" loudly said Q's wife. She wanted to walk closer but the Q leader held her arm out to prevent her.

"You can clearly see you are surrounded here," said the leader. "There is no way home for you without our help. Even with your power, you can't fight all of us at once."

"Quite frankly, I am disappointed that you would think we would not notice," said Enabran. He pointed at butt-whipped Q. "We saw him on the video from the ship but didn't see him or any others of your kind out there. Except for these three and the one that beat Jidod." Enabran bared his sharp predatory teeth. "You don't have your children's level of power, do you?"

"Why, you-" the ninja Q started to say. He drew the large Ginsu sword from his back. Once again, the leader raised her arm and the ninja Q ceased speaking.

"Who said we would give you the chance to fight?" Genji asked. "One word, and Isaiah detonates a ten-megaton blast at his feet. We can survive that. Can you?"

"You would sacrifice your own wounded friend to kill us?" asked the leader.

"Lady, we came here knowing we could die fighting so-called gods," said Isaiah. He pointed a finger at butt-whipped Q. "We know from experience what happens when punks like him are left unchecked."

"Oh come on, now!" butt-whipped Q shouted. "We were going to leave you alone!"

"And how were we supposed to know that?" asked Genji, finally getting to the heart of the matter.

"Then it's decided-," said the leader with a double clap, "-you leave our continuum and we promise to never interfere in the affairs of the alpha quadrant while you live."

"What? They killed our kids!" butt-whipped Q shouted. "We can't let them get away with this!"

"As if your hands aren't as drenched in blood as ours!" Genji pointed out.

"Hmph!" butt-whipped Q turned his back to the group. "They were inferior beings..."

"Say that again when you're face down!" Isaiah said as he raised his palm at butt-whipped Q.

"Jingwei, lock on missile bank 12 onto that Q," said Genji, "then announce it out loud to the crowd. Intimidation factor 3!"

"Missile bank 12 locked onto primary target: older male Q with nappy hair," said Jingwei to the crowd in a very deep, mechanical voice.

Butt-whipped Q raised his hands. "Uh...leader? Are you going to...let them kill me?"

The leader looked at him. "Why shouldn't I? It was you and your boneheaded son that got us into this mess, was it not?"

Butt-whipped Q got on his knees. "Please don't kill me!" he begged, hands held up in prayer. "I've got 75,000 more lives to live! And my son deserves a second-"

"eighth," said the leader.

"-eighth chance to shape up! I promise I'll stay out of your way!"

Jidod laughed and said, "We are so powerful we even make the gods beg for the lives!"

"Fine. We will tolerate this minor humiliation," said the leader. "Do we have a deal?"

"Release our annoying friend first."

The leader looked at Jidod and the two closest Q got knives from the box by the table and cut him loose from the tree. The stripper Q returned the bat'leth of Kahless. Jidod shook his fist at her then turned around and walked towards his team.

"Deal...accepted," said Jingwei.

"Then I hope this marks the last time we see each other," said the leader. She looked at her people's fallen, resoundingly thrashed children and shook her head.

"Fine with us, or you will see us again," said Genji. "Take us home, Jidod."

Jidod held the blade out towards Isaiah. skooom! Isaiah fired a phaser blast for fifteen seconds, recharging the blade. Jidod looked around, then swung his sword three times. A large portal appeared in the sky above Jingwei's head. Jingwei flew first but dropped off the jammer by the bodies. Isaiah took off next and flew inside.

"Let me borrow your bat'leth," Enabran asked.

"Yes..." said Jidod, warily. He handed him the blade.

Enabran took a step towards the Q. "The Pa Wraiths know what your problem is. You are bored. You need excitement. I am giving you some." He swung three times and pointed the right blade at the sky. Four large wormholes opened up. Snarling gray humanoids came plunging through the portals. "They told me of a universe of the undead. Have fun with them." He returned the blade to Jidod and they flew to the portal.

Some of the Q screamed and started running. "Get ready for battle!" shouted the leader.

"I'll cover you while you disable the jammer! Get the others ready as well!" shouted the ninja Q as he pointed his sword towards the forest. The sound of footsteps grew louder. It was the last thing Enabran and Jidod heard from them as the portal home closed.

End season 1


	27. Epilogue USS Franklin

Hero HQ,

one week after the Q War,

Commander Austin Pence sat down at his desk. The computer screen switched on and he saw the list of trouble spots that Section 31 maintained. _Looks like things are going to be calm here for a while. But I can't let the team get complacent. Maybe we should look for an away miss-_ He saw something halfway down the list of trouble spots that interrupted his train of thought. He opened the report

Numerous shipwrecks with strange damage patterns and missing crews detected along the neutral zone region of Yorktown sector. Area of wrecks consistent with last known location of USS _Franklin_. The synopsis said. He pressed the intercom button.

"Purcell here," said Ensign Purcell.

"Want to chase a ghost ship today?"

"Is that a joke, sir?"

"I wish. Still up for it?"

A clanking sound came on the intercom which sounded like dropped datapads. "Uh, sure. Are we taking the heroes?"

"Of course. They can fight in space now. It's like having a fighter squadron that fits in a bedroom."

1ly outside Federation space,

one day later,

The Section 31 stealth ship dropped out of warp at the location Federation historians first checked for the _Franklin_. On the bridge, Commander Pense looked at the vast emptiness of the area. Bored with this, he pressed a button on his console and looked again at the map. There were a few worlds in the 5 light year neighborhood, and it made Pense realize something.

"Any sign of the _Franklin_?" He asked the crew.

"No, sir," said Ensign Purcell as he looked at the sensor results.

"Perhaps we need to check further," said Pense. He sent the map to the main viewscreen. "Computer, highlight planets that can sustain human life in a five light year radius." Three circles appeared on the screen of the star map. "Take us to the closest one," he ordered.

Ensign Purcell turned around while the rest of the crew plotted a course. "Sir, why that world?"

"Process of elimination," Pense replied. "I'm thinking, that for some reason, the _Franklin _probably went to one of those three worlds. It's the best place to start."

2ly outside Federation space,

A half hour later.

The ship dropped out of warp above orbit around a healthy blue and white colored planet. It made Pense think of his old home on Alpha Centauri. The way the clouds spun overhead, the way the oceans glowed in the sunlight, and the way the sensors detected multiple life signs and ship debris from a dozen different ship designs. "Hey boss, I think we found a winner," said the science officer. A slender woman in her early 20s, she quickly circled the debris and settlements on the image.

The image quickly shifted to video of a very large ship with many angular cross-sections taking off from the planet. The Federation database didn't know whose it was and marked it as unknown. The ship's secondary hull bits hanging off the cross sections reminded him of fruit...or drones.

"Sir, we have scanned its weapons. Their signature matches that of the scanned debris," said the science officer.

"Go to yellow alert. Order the heroes to the docking bay," Pense ordered the crew.

The mysterious ship left the confines of orbit and headed away from the planet. The cloaked section 31 ship did not catch its attention.

"Where is the ship going?" asked Pense.

"Looks like... it's pointed towards Yorktown at this time, sir," said Purcell.

"I highly doubt they're coming for tea and crumpets," said Pense. "Red alert," the lights dimmed and the crew rushed around getting ready for battle. "Battle stations. Decloak on my mark, launch a barrage of torpedoes and cloak again. And tell our heroes to deploy."

Boom boom boom! The torpedoes exploded against the rear of the unknown ship and the back of the nacelles. The ship shuttered to a halt. The Section 31 ship disappeared again, just as bits of the ship began detaching. A swarm of small craft flew around their damaged main ship's propulsion drives, protecting it from further.

The communications officer heard a weird buzzing in her ear. "There is a strange signal coming from it. Doesn't appear to be a hail for us, Commander," she told Pense.

"Curious. We'll ask them about when we take prisoners."

"Hero team is in position!" said another officer.

"You are go for launch," said the bridge officer to the cargo bay. "Target-rich environment!"

"You hear that, Jingwei? We're on," Genji told the robot with a smile. "MWA 0, Jingwei. Launching!" whooosh! A burst of speed pushed her against the seat as Jingwei shot out of the ship. Her data screen lit up with information about the enemy fleet spinning around its carrier.

Isaiah took a deep breath. "Hero number one, Isaiah, launching!" Isaiah jumped off the floor and flew out of the ship. Jingwei's data entered his battle armor and gave him options to consider as he approached the enemy.

"Real hero number one, Enabran, launching!" Enabran jogged forward and flapped his arms like a bird, then started flying. He also received Jingwei's data and looked over what to do.

"Superhero number one, Jidod house of Mogh...closing cargo bay door." Jidod sighed after he said that, for he was not able to fight spaceships with the bat'leth of Kahless. The hatch quickly slammed shut and he sulked back inside.

Genji immediately noticed a group of swarming fighters leaving the carrier and coming her way and saw what Jingwei determined of the weapons. The ship immediately noticed that they were flying in a single line formation. _Rammers, huh? Let's see them try to hit me!_ She pointed Jingwei head first and fired the phaser cannon at the first group of attackers. The beam cut straight through the line of ships, destroying them all. She aimed at the carrier and fired the phaser cannon. Skasss! The beam tore through the tiny fighters like a hot knife through Ferengi butter. Almost immediately afterward, another group of fighters broke off from the carrier and headed after her.

"Oh, they do not like me..." she told her team.

"What's the plan, leader?" Isaiah asked.

"They have no weapons other than a ram! Don't let them hit you!" Jingwei began to rise. "I'll take top shelf! Go lower and stay under me! Don't stand still! Watch your screens and fields of fire!"

"That's it- OH FORBORT!" Isaiah saw a swarm of fighters form into a hand that looked to grab him. He swerved to the left and barely dodged the fingers, spun around and blasted the fighters to ashes.

Enabran smiled with evil glee as he destroyed enemy vessels with his hand pistols, spinning acrobatically around. However, a group of fighters adapted to his tactics and he soon found his shots missing their mark, with him in the middle of a spinning formation of fighters encircling him. Enabran lowered his hands. {Hmmm this is not going well for me.}

{The f*** you think?} said the bald Pa Wraith.

{Suggestions?}

{Make a strong shield because they're coming!} the female Pa Wraith quickly advised. Sure enough, the ramming formation shot towards him from all sides. Enabran raised his hands up slightly and a strong shield appeared around him. The ships crashed against his much stronger magic shields like bugs against a windshield.

{Well now. That was simple yet satisfying,} said Enabran to the Pa Wraith. He was about to compliment himself further when his sensors picked up another swarm coming for him.

Above the team of heroes, Genji fought for her life as alien fighter after fighter barely missed the robot or bounced off the armor. "Missiles!" She ordered. Jingwei pointed up and a swarm of missiles flew out. Whole formations of fighters exploded around her. But the horde of fighters kept coming. "They're really making us work for it today!" Genji told Jingwei. She curled Jingwei knees and dodged another stream of fighters, firing her arm cannons as they passed under her. That formation was soon reduced to floating debris. She was about to target another group when she got an alert. Multiple torpedoes hit the vulnerable carrier the fighters came from. The fighters soon turned around and went after the Federation ship striking their carrier. She zoomed in the view and saw the Section 31 ship pull away as the enemy fighters approached.

"A good tactic on your commander's part," said Jingwei. "Their shields would not survive a guided attack from the enemy."

"Yeah, I guess."

A sensor alert to the right caught her attention. She turned her head to look and saw the source. Another enemy carrier, with even more fighters attached, entered orbit from the planet's surface.

"Commander Pense! There are too many of them!"

Pense replied, "You will have to hold the line until we can find a way to counter them! Otherwise, Yorktown's as good as dead!" The Section 31 ship cloaked, barely avoiding contact with the fighter swarm.

"TCH!" Genji bit her tongue and looked at the approaching carrier. It began launching fighters. Another ten thousand fighters appeared on the battlefield. She looked at the long-range scan data. An idea entered her head. "Boys, you're on your own."

"What? Not you too!" Isaiah shouted.

"Leaving us to die is a sign of poor leader- aaah that was close!" Enabran replied as he barely dodged a fighter ramming him in the head at high speed.

"No choice! Try not to die while I'm gone!" She turned off the mike. "Jingwei, engage warp drive. Destination... here!" She pointed at a spot on the three-dimensional map floating in front of her.

Isaiah looked on, worry and fear entering his heart, as Jingwei's warp nacelles swung out and the robot went away. He tried to wipe his head but realized that this would be impossible under the circumstances. That's when a swarm of eight lines of fighters approached. He quickly raised his hands and let loose a mighty blast of polaric ion energy at the swarm. Explosions filled the space in front of him, but after he fired the last of the energy, more approached. He turned around and took off. _Gotta buy time gotta buy time! _He zigzagged around while three lines of a hundred fighters each chased after him.

Enabran flew by him, also in a mad race to dodge the swarm. They formed a side-by-side formation, accelerating to avoid the pursuers.

"Got any ideas?" asked Isaiah.

"Why do I have to think of everything?"

"You're the smartest one!"

"I thought that was Genji, or so she brags."

"Doesn't matter! Other than find a big jamming net, I'm out of ideas!"

Enabran looked at the planet below. "Let's head there. Maybe we can hide in the woods or caves?"

"See? You are the smartest one! That was my next idea!"

"Nardcrap. That was my original idea!" A fighter dove at them, Enabran pushed Isaiah out of the way just enough to save him and himself from a diving fighter crashing into them. "It no longer matters to me! Let's move!"

As they approached the planet, the undamaged carrier approached, blocking their direct path to the planet below. Their sensors warned them of more fighters being launched from the carrier. They were losing hope quickly when a bright light appeared from the right side of the carrier, slammed into the carrier and went out the other side. The carrier tore into six pieces and flew off in the distance to their left. The fighters behind them broke off and flew towards the first carrier.

"Whao! What was that?!" Isaiah asked after he and Enabran stopped their flight and hovered where the second carrier once floated.

"Didn't you pay attention in the meeting yesterday?"

"Remind me."

"Just watch, dumb human."

"Hey I'm not- what the?" Another bright light appeared, tore through the carrier in the same manner as the previous one, and flew off into ten exploding pieces. The fighters began flying erratically around the debris. Then they started flying towards the heroes. The heroes raised their hands, to prepare to blast as much of the enemy as they could. {Caution, low polaric ion energy} the computer warned Isaiah.

{This next attack will kill you,} said the female Pa Wraith.

{Hopefully, the suit's life support will sustain me until help arrives,} Enabran replied. {Now get-}

The Section 31 ship decloaked in front of them. The space in front of the ship lit up with the firecracker-like explosions of the fighters in front of them. The debris bounced harmlessly off the ship's shields, but Isaiah and Enabran raised their arms to protect their faces anyway.

"Thanks for buying us the time we needed," said Pense.

"What? How? Explain!" Isaiah demanded.

"Simple," Purcell explained. "They used a control algorithm that affects the directional-"

"In a way that I can understand!"

"Do you want me to use puppets like a pre-school teacher?! You just need to know that we sent a signal hidden within theirs to blow up their engines! Networking your engines is almost as bad as networking your guns."

"Oh. Wow. That was dumb on their part. But what about the large...uh, carriers?!"

"That was Genji. Didn't you pay attention in the meeting?"

"Uh...maybe?"

"Then you clearly remember," said Genji, "The part where we talked about using a warp bubble to propel the gauss rifle rounds to warp speed."

"Really?"

"Yes, really! It was your original idea!"

"Oh, yeah! That's right! OW!" Enabran hit him on the back of the head.

"I went to find an asteroid to mount the rifle and keep them from spotting me. Hence why I needed you to buy me time."

Isaiah put his hands on his hips. "So once again, the day is saved, by me! Just like on planet Q!OW!"

The ship started moving towards the planet. "The day is not done yet." Pense explained. "We need to find where they came from and why there were attacking ships. Jidod, you're up."

"And here I thought I was going to have time for a luxurious bubble bath." The heroes laughed at the joke as they flew towards the planet.

Once on the planet, Jidod quickly dealt with the remaining alien guards. The many slaves working the planet's mines were freed. Some members of the Section 31 crew recognized people from missing person lists. Realizing that a Section 31 ship operating out in the open like this would lead to more questions than they wanted to answer, Pense ordered the crew to leave behind some extra food and medical supplies, then leave. Before leaving, he took samples of the alien tech and set the enemy's subspace radio to call Yorktown station. Satisfied that the alien and human slaves would be rescued, they beamed up and sailed off. Leaving New Busan without heroes for long periods of time seemed like a bad idea. What with the constant escalating attacks and all.

Section 31 regional HQ,

One day later

Commodore Chekov handed over the datapad to his superiors in the small office where his superior sat. The file Project Ankaris loaded up and the Vulcan and Human members quickly glanced at it.

"The results from this project are far beyond our expectations, Commodore," said the Vulcan leader. He turned his head slightly as he stared deeply at Chekov. "And yet it seems they take on a lot of risky assignments."

"By the very definition of the project, they have to, sir," Chekov replied with very little hint of intimidation in his voice. "Other than those times when the assignment shows up on their literal doorstep."

"And yet you have allowed non-Federation members to participate," said a Human member, a man with a slightly tanned complexion and very curly hair. "Don't you think this increases the risks to our organization?"

"Considering the level and number of threats that the team faced, there was not a choice. Perhaps with your... assistance, we can expedite the process and provide their families with citizenship?"

"You want to give a bloodthirsty Klingon with a magic ancient sword a citizenship card?"

"To be fair and specific, sir, he is now our...bloodthirsty Klingon powered by... magic Iconian technology."

"That sounds even more horrifying. Please stand by while I s*** myself."

"No, wait," said the female Human admiral, an older woman not given to frivolities like dying her hair to hide the graying. "Chekov's got a point. We only have the four members so far, each of whom is irreplaceable at this stage." She crossed his arms. "Obviously we can't replicate Jingwei, the Pa Wraiths orbs, or the Iconian tech that powers the bat'leth."

"And yet we can replicate the original Project Ankaris," said the Vulcan leader. "I will see what I can do on Vulcan." They stood up. "Once again, the galaxy is in your debt, Commodore."

Chekov bowed slightly. "I do what I must, sir."

"Precisely. If I see Spock, should I pass on any message to him for you?

Chekov smiled but backed up. "No need. I am sure I will see him soon enough."

End season 1...


End file.
